NYT Co wrests concessions from Boston Globe union

The New York Times Company's threat to close The Boston Globe unless labor unions agreed to $20 million in concessions seems to have worked, as the union agreed to significant cuts in pay and other benefits.

Reaching a tentative deal early in the morning at 3:00 am, Robert Powers a Globe spokesman, released a statement saying, ''We have completed negotiations with the Guild but have agreed not to release any details until the leadership speaks with Guild members on Thursday, 7 May.''

But, according to a report in the Boston Globe's edition today, not only has The Times Company been able to extract $20 million in concessions, but was also able to ''change the job guarantee language, which was widely considered a roadblock to any potential sale of New England's largest newspaper.''

Guild president Daniel Totten, coming out of the 10-hour marathon talks, refused to say much to reporters, but according to the Boston Globe, citing sources familiar with the deal, said, that the union had agreed to substantial wage cuts, unpaid leave and more importantly, change in the lifetime job guarantee, which provided shield to more than 190 employees of the paper.

The main deadlock in the negotiations was over The Times Company's relentless effort to do away with the lifetime job guarantee scheme.

In April, The Times Company had threatened to close The Boston Globe unless labour unions agreed to $20 million in concessions as it stood to lose $85 million in 2009. (See: The Times Company threatens to shut down The Boston Globe)

The Times Company paid $1.1 billion for The Globe in 1993, the highest price ever paid for a single American newspaper, and it was highly profitable through that decade. But in recent years, the erosion of advertising and newspaper circulation has been more severe in the Boston area than in most of the country.

The Times Company also wants to end a provision in The Globe's contracts that gives certain employees lifetime job guarantees. The company recently revealed that it was asking most of its employees, including the bulk of those at the flagship New York Times newspaper, to take a 5-per cent pay cut for the remainder of this year. The company has recently scrambled to borrow money and sell assets to raise cash to weather the downturn.

During the negotiations, The Times Company seems to have demanded a 23-per cent in wage cut, failing which the company could have unilaterally imposed the cut, as under US labour laws companies are allowed to do so if a deadlock is reached in negotiations.

Totten had sent a letter to the union members late last night saying that The Times Company not only seeks a 23 per cent wage cut but may axe a large number of employees in spite of whatever came out of the negotiations.

After having set Sunday midnight as the deadline for the four unions to come to a settlement, but with little progress on the talks, The Times Company yesterday put the union under pressure saying that it would file a notice with the US government to shut down the paper if it did not get millions of dollars in concessions from its unions. (See: Boston Globe hangs between life and death)

The 137-year-old Globe is the 17th-largest newspaper in the United States by daily paid circulation, according to the US Audit Bureau of Circulation, ranking 13th on Sundays.

The agreements have to be ratified by the four union members through voting.