The St. Paul Pioneer Press laid off 11 people Tuesday, including nine in the newsroom and two in advertising sales and production.

After the layoffs, the newspaper has 129 newsroom employees and 74 in advertising, said Michael Bucsko, executive officer of the Minnesota Newspaper Guild, the union representing the two groups of employees. The layoffs are estimated to have saved the company about $800,000 a year.

The layoffs come a few weeks after the Pioneer Press asked the union for $2 million in concessions, then later backed off that demand, Bucsko said. The layoffs follow a staff reduction of about a dozen at the Pioneer Press earlier this year and imposition of five unpaid furlough days for Newspaper Guild members, he said.

Pioneer Press management officials could not be reached for comment. But according to a newsroom memo, those laid off were copy editors Trish Collopy, Sara Connolly, Emily King, Andrew Pritchard and Jennifer Westpfahl; sports reporter Phil Miller; photographer Brandi Thomas, and page designers Amanda Willis and Dana Albrecht.

The Newspaper Guild identified the other two laid-off employees as Andrew Schaefer from advertising production and Ellen Aldajuste from advertising sales.

In the memo, Pioneer Press Editor Thom Fladung attributed the layoffs to "the challenges we face in this continuingly difficult economy and amid unprecedented change for our industry. In that, we certainly are not alone in the newspaper world."

STEVE ALEXANDER