The San Francisco Chronicle has taken a vital step towards preventing its sale or closure after it reached an initial agreement with its largest union on contract concessions, according to an official announcement reported by CNN.com.

The newspaper's publisher, Heasrt Corp., recently told staff that unless it could begin to drastically cut costs, the newspaper would have to be sold or closed. This would leave San Francisco as the largest U.S. city without a daily paper, and see the Chronicle as the oldest casualty of the economic and industry crisis.

The Chronicle reported that an agreement was reached between management and the California Media Workers Guild on Monday, according to an AFP article. The guild, which represents nearly 500 employees of the newspaper, will vote on Thursday regarding the contract changes which require majority approval. The union negotiating committee recommended membership approval.

"The terms reached late Monday include expanded management ability to lay off employees without regard to seniority... reductions in vacation time, sick leave and maternity/paternity leave, expansion of the work week from 37.5 hours to 40, and the right for the company to subcontract any work," the Guild said in a statement, according to AFP.

The company will now look to reach an agreement with its other major union, the 420-member International Brotherhood of Teamsters.