Gannett workers to take unpaid leave

NEW YORK - Gannett Co., the largest US newspaper publisher, said it will make most of its US employees, including chief executive Craig Dubow, take one week of unpaid leave this quarter to save money.

The company is asking its union workers to participate in the unpaid-leave program, Dubow said yesterday in a memo to employees.

"A furlough program would be the fairest and least intrusive way to meet these fiscal challenges in the first quarter," said Dubow who had a salary of $1.2 million in 2007.

The publisher of USA Today, the largest-circulation US newspaper, has already cut jobs.