....unabated, with another example of greedy corporate executives at a
bankrupt company making a grab for big bonuses while axing hundreds of
employees and freezing wages for many others.

That's what the Tribune Co. executives are doing as the multimedia
conglomerate sinks under the weight of $13 billion in debt incurred by
its corporate leaders in 2007. And they want to keep the bonuses a big
secret, the AFL-CIO reports.

The company filed for Chapter 11 protection last December and, in its
most recent action, is seeking court permission to dole out nearly $70
million in executive bonuses. The company also requested the court seal
much of the request. The request was denied.

The Newspaper Guild-CWA and the Teamsters, which represent employees at
the Tribune-owned Baltimore Sun and WPIX-TV in New York, has asked the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to block the company’s plan to pay up
to $69.9 million in executive bonus this year, including $20.6 million
to the 10 top managers (about $2 million each). Some 700 other managers
would share in the bonus booty.

While the Tribune Co. is coddling its execs and managers with bonuses,
its attitude toward employees was starkly demonstrated in late April
when the Baltimore Sun laid off 61 newsroom employees, one-third of its
news-gathering operation.