Providence Journal management is seeking to delay payment of $1.2 million in retirement benefits to its employees, according to the Providence Newspaper Guild, the union representing the workers.

The request comes on the heels of buyouts and layoffs of more than 100 employees over the past 6 months.

The $1.2 million in retirement benefits are owed to people hired before July 1, 2004 and who were enrolled in the company's pension plan. In 2007, the Journal's pension plan was frozen so that no new pension benefits could be earned, according to the Guild.

At that time, The Journal agreed to compensate for that change by making 5 yearly payments to each affected employee's 401k plan. The first payment came last year. The second one was due on March 31, according to the Guld's newsletter to employees.

The company recently notified the Guild that it wants to postpone that $1.2 million payment until October.

"The Guild is extremely concerned about this proposal," stated the union's letter to employees. "It shows that A.H. Belo (the Texas-based parent company of the Journal) continues to have severe cash-flow problems that it has failed to correct. Once again the company is asking Guild members to pay the price.

"Already the company unilaterally stopped paying its share of out 401k plans. Guild members have also borne the brunt of recent layoffs, leaving a highly-paid, well-populated management workforce with even fewer workers to supervise.''

The Guild's executive committee voted last week to allow postponement of the pension payments until April 30. The Guild has also asked the company for "legally binding" gurantees that the money "would actually be paid in October."

The Guild is concerned that without a legally binding agreement that employeees could end as unsecured creditors in the event the cmpany files for bankruptcy.

Guild members meet on April 21 to discuss the matter. A call to Journla management seeking comment was not returned yesterday.