It was late in the day November 19 that employees of Tribune Publishing’s newspapers got word: Its troncked-up former chairman Michael Ferro was giving a final “f— you” to the business by selling his 25 percent stake to Alden Global Capital, the Thanos of the newspaper business.

(Or perhaps its Anton Chigurh? Norman Bates, Voldemort, Sauron? Alas, those guys all seem to have more complex personalities — even the occasional sympathetic quality.)

Alden is best known as the hedge fund that never found a budget it couldn’t cut, a journalist it couldn’t lay off, or a community it couldn’t make a little bit dumber. By all accounts, Tribune itself was surprised by the deal and has taken steps to limit Alden’s further investment in the company (which is currently up to around 32 percent). But that can only last for a few months — until June 30, 2020 — after which it’s possible control of Tribune could be available for Alden strip-mining.

Well, some employees at Tribune Publishing — which includes the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun, the New York Daily News, and a handful of other metro dailies — are pushing back:

The employees of Tribune Publishing on Wednesday are delivering a petition urging the company’s board of directors to recommit to preserving newsrooms and prioritizing quality journalism. The petition follows news that Alden Global Capital, a hedge fund known as the “destroyer of newsrooms,” has purchased a 32% stake in the company.

Hundreds of Tribune employees across at least five states have signed the petition…which asks the board to increase staffing, consider any purchasing offers from local and/or civic-minded entities and expedite good-faith contract negotiations with existing unions.

THREAD: Today a petition signed by 432 employees of Tribune Publishing was sent to the company’s board of directors. In it, we asked the board to take specific steps to show its commitment to #savelocalnews after the board’s decision to give Alden Global Capital two seats… pic.twitter.com/d5L0eqFRWv

— The Morning Call Guild ☀️ (@mcallguild) December 11, 2019

The petition — which currently has signatures from 432 Tribune employees, both union and non-union — also asks the board to bring to shareholders and support a resolution backed by six of the company’s unions:

RESOLVED​: Shareholders request that the board of directors prepare an annual “journalism report” detailing the company’s commitment to its core product — news. Available to investors, this report should be prepared at a reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information, and consider the relative benefits and drawbacks of the company’s commitment to journalistic integrity as determined at the judgement and direction of the board of directors and management.

Alden's usual plan is to lay off droves of journalists and squeeze profits from newspapers even as they lose the ability to do meaningful journalism. According to our friends at @dfmworkers, under Alden’s control workers were laid off at twice the rate of other newspaper chains.

— Chicago Tribune Guild (@CTGuild) December 11, 2019

Today a petition signed by 432 employees of Tribune Publishing was sent to the company’s board of directors. In it, we asked the board to take specific steps to show its commitment to #savelocalnews after the board’s decision to give Alden Global Capital two seats.

— Baltimore Sun Guild ☀️ (@baltsunguild) December 11, 2019

The Chicago Tribune’s Mary Schmich wrote a column last week addressing “the next owner of the Chicago Tribune,” calling for some civic-minded Midwesterner to “make your mark on Chicago history, to make yourself rich in honor, to be — no exaggeration — a hero” by saving the paper from what could be its Aldenized fate.

The reporters, editors and photographers of @CourantGuild and the other @Tribpub papers who signed this petition did so because they share a strong commitment to our newspapers. We demand Tribune Publishing to do the same. #SaveLocalNews @AldenExposed

— Hartford Courant Guild (@CourantGuild) December 11, 2019

So who’s on the Tribune board that this petition is addressed to?

Alden recently demanded it be expanded from six to eight members — with the two newcomers, Dana Goldsmith Needleman and Christopher Minnetian, appointed by the hedge fund. Their backgrounds are in real estate and in being friendly to Alden Global Capital.

Two other directors, Carol Crenshaw and Richard Reck, were Ferro-era appointees to the board; both are accountants. Philip Franklin used to work for Sam Zell’s refrigerator company.

Eddy Hartenstein and current Tribune CEO Tim Knight both have extensive experience in newspapers and media — Hartenstein with the Los Angeles Times, DirecTV, and SiriusXM, Knight with Advance, Newsday, and various other positions within Tribune. Chairman David Dreier is a former longtime member of Congress who is also chair of the Fallen Journalists Memorial Foundation.

We’ll see if they feel any of the urgency their company’s employees do. You can find a copy of the petition here.

The petition shows the unity of the journalists who bring readers the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Hartford Courant, (Allentown, PA) Morning Call, Capital Gazette, Carroll County Times, Virginian-Pilot, Daily Press, Virginia Gazette, Tidewater Review and other papers.

— Chicago Tribune Guild (@CTGuild) December 11, 2019