BY TREVOR MAXWELL

MaineToday Media, Inc.

The back-and-forth filings between MaineToday Media, Inc. Inc. and the Portland Newspaper Guild continued this week in federal court.

Late on Tuesday, the company filed a brief that again asks a federal judge to rule in the company's favor or force the union into immediate arbitration over a contract dispute. The brief was filed in support of a previous motion filed by the company.

The lawsuit, initiated by the company in June, seeks an answer to one central question: whether a new owner of MaineToday Media, Inc. would be required to honor the labor contract signed by the company and the union last fall.

MaineToday Media, Inc. argues that no such obligation exists, and claims that the union's opposition on the issue has stalled efforts to sell the company's assets. Union leaders say that the obligation does exist and that they are trying to preserve the rights of workers.

The guild represents about 300 workers at the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, including reporters and circulation and advertising employees. It also represents some employees at the Morning Sentinel in Waterville.

The Blethen family, which owns the Seattle Times, announced in March that its Maine holdings were up for sale. Those properties include the Press Herald, the Kennebec Journal, the Morning Sentinel, MaineToday.com and several nondaily print publications.

In court documents filed in July, Press Herald Publisher Charles Cochrane said the consequences could be dire if the Blethens are not able to sell the properties, including the possibility -- though highly unlikely -- of a shutdown.

Earlier this summer, the company agreed to negotiate exclusively with a Maine-based group of investors, but that agreement was terminated last week, because the potential buyers said they needed more time to work out a deal.

In Tuesday's filing, lawyers for the company said that termination underscores the need for a ruling from the court or an arbitrator. "Absent the compulsion of a court order, it is likely the union will return to its efforts to delay resolution of this important contract interpretation question, to prevent BMN from selling to a buyer of its -- rather than the union's -- choosing," wrote one of the company's lawyers, Matthew LaMourie of the Portland firm Preti Flaherty Beliveau & Pachios.

"As a result of the union's tactics, BMN has lost the interest of nearly all of the potential buyers initially interested in acquiring its assets."

Tom Bell, president of the Portland Newspaper Guild, said the union is not purposely trying to delay the sale and is adhering to the arbitration process.

"We are aware of several groups of bidders who are actively interested in the property," he said.

The union has stated that the matter should be heard by the National Labor Relations Board, not the federal court.

The next step in the case is likely a recommendation by U.S. Magistrate Judge John Rich, said Jonathan Beal, a Portland lawyer representing the union. Both parties would then have the opportunity to affirm or object to the recommendation.