2:10 p.m.:

MaineToday Media, Inc. Inc. and the Portland Newspaper Guild have agreed to meet with an arbitrator as soon as possible to resolve a contractual dispute, after meeting with a federal judge in Portland this afternoon.

U.S. District Judge George Singal was scheduled to hear arguments in the case, but that hearing was cancelled when the parties came to an agreement while meeting with Singal in his chambers.

MaineToday Media, Inc. Inc. owns the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, MaineToday.com and several non-daily print publications. Those properties have been up for sale since March.

The company filed the lawsuit June 17. The suit asks a federal judge to declare that a buyer of the newspapers would not be required to inherit the labor contract signed with the guild last fall. Failing that, the suit asks the judge, in the alternative, to force the union into immediate arbitration to settle the dispute.

Union leaders contend that a buyer of the newspapers must assume the contract. They have said the federal court lacks the authority to intervene in the dispute.

A meeting with an arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association is set for Jan. 13, but both sides agreed today to seek an earlier date.

12:55 p.m.:

A federal court judge is scheduled to hear oral arguments today in the lawsuit filed by MaineToday Media, Inc. Inc. against the Portland Newspaper Guild.

U.S. District Judge George Singal will hear the arguments at 1 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Portland.

MaineToday Media, Inc. Inc. owns the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal in Augusta, the Morning Sentinel in Waterville, MaineToday.com and several non-daily print publications. Those properties have been up for sale since March.

The company filed the lawsuit June 17. The suit asks a federal judge to declare that a buyer of the newspapers would not be required to inherit the labor contract signed with the guild last fall. Failing that, the suit asks the judge, in the alternative, to force the union into immediate arbitration to settle the dispute.

Union leaders have said they are willing to enter arbitration, but not under an expedited time frame. They have said the federal court lacks the authority to intervene in the dispute.

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