The Denver Newspaper Agency and The Denver Post will begin having contract concession talks, the Rocky Mountain News reported Tuesday. An auditor recently decided the agency needs to cut costs to avoid bankruptcy.

The decision came after a meeting in which union employees for the Rocky Mountain News tried to persuade units of the Denver Newspaper Guild to begin negotiations until owner E.W. Scripps makes a decision on whether it will sell or close down the Rocky. The Denver Newspaper Agency is a partnership that publishes the Rocky and the Denver Post.

Tony Mulligan, administrative officer of the Denver Newspaper Guild, said that although the Guild is concerned for employees of the Rocky hanging in the balance "because of the silence of E.W. Scripps," the agency and employees at the Post are also being affected.

The agency is looking to finalise wage and benefit concessions in order to re-negotiate its US$130 million in bank debt, according to the Rocky.