P-I's money proposal

The company is offering employees the ability to cash out 25 percent of their severance and ditch early if the arbitrator comes back and closes the paper. In order to get one's full severance package, the employee would have to stay until the very end.

Here are some real examples of what some people would get without saying who these people are:

• 30+ year vet --$15,000 cash out --$91,544 remainder
• 20+ year vet --$15,000 cash out --$55,188 remainder
• 15+ year vet --$11,417 cash out --$34,252 remainder
• 10+ year vet --$6,585 cash out --$19,754 remainder
• 5+ year vet --$4,391 cash out --$13,171 remainder
• newbie --$1,870 cash out --$5,610 remainder

The fact that the company even proposed giving some money should probably be seen as a good sign. However, the complexity of its plan obviously leads me to question it. Basically, management's idea was to give something to new people (we're hiring a lot lately), but also allow for mid-level staffers to get out of Dodge early should the paper have to close.

The main question: Will it be enough to stop the brain drain? Management says, "Yes." Guild says "No." Only time and the needs of competing newsrooms will give the real answer.