NEW YORK – The fate of two leading papers in New Jersey hangs on a union vote scheduled for Tuesday.

George Arwady, publisher of The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J., has urged members of the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union to ratify a tentative agreement he said the paper has reached with the union's leadership.

Members have until 10 p.m. to vote, Arwady said. Approval would satisfy the final condition necessary for the Star-Ledger and its sister paper, The Times of Trenton, N.J., to avoid a closure or sale by January.

Both papers are owned by privately held Advance Publications Inc. and share printing and some business operations.

The Star-Ledger is New Jersey's largest newspaper, with a daily circulation of about 350,000.

Newspapers across the country have seen advertising revenue drop as readers flock to the Internet plus an even steeper drop this year because of general economic uncertainty. The Star-Ledger has posted losses for at least three straight years and is on pace to lose between $30 million and $40 million in 2008.

The union has until Wednesday to accept the new agreement, which would replace an existing contract. It's not clear when the votes will be counted and announced, and neither union nor Star-Ledger officials will say exactly what concessions the paper sought from the drivers union.

Union officials have failed to return several calls for comment.

Besides getting a new contract with the drivers union, publisher Arwady said the paper needed at least a quarter of its full-time nonunion employees to apply for a buyout. That target has been met, according to Star-Ledger officials, though some employees had until Tuesday to withdraw their buyout application.

A third condition Arwady set for the paper to stay in business – concessions from the mailers union – was met last month.

If the Star-Ledger fails to meet the conditions by Wednesday, Arwady has said repeatedly, the paper would start looking for bidders Thursday or could close Jan. 5. Because of many shared operations, the Times also would be sold or closed even though that paper also met its buyout targets.

The Times has a daily circulation of about 55,000.