Viacom Fills Freelancers' Stockings with Coal

Paging the Ghost of Christmas Future: Sumner Redstone is pulling a Scrooge.

The Viacom chairman waited until three weeks before Christmas to drop a bomb of miserliness on the company's legions of freelancers -- a designation that includes plenty of employees who work full-time hours for inferior benefits.

No longer will contract workers enjoy the almost sinful luxury of five paid vacation days a year. Tuition reimbursement and commuter deductions have also been cut, according to sources, and Gawker says dental coverage is out the window, too.

A Viacom spokesman said the changes would only affect freelancers hired starting Jan. 1. Actually, he said, "[F]reelance employees hired after December 31, 2007 will be eligible for a newly designed benefits program that will be one of the most competitive freelance compensation and benefits packages in the industry."

Translation: What kind of freelancer expects dental?