Update: Boston Globe's Largest Union Approves New Contract

BOSTON/Dorchester - By a vote of 366 to 179 members of the Boston Newspaper Guild approved a contract with Globe owner The New York Times Company. The deal which includes wage and benefit cuts amounting to $10 Million was said by owners and employees alike to be necessary in order to keep the newspaper financially viable until a new owner can be found. The Times has hired investment broker Goldman Sachs Company to find buyers for the Globe the Worcester Gazette and Telegram and Boston.com. Reporters from nearly all the local TV stations the Boston Herald WBUR-FM and Open Media Boston waited outside the Globe's Dorchester offices and printing plant for several hours. But Newspaper Guild President Dan Totten never came out of the building to answer questions. Earlier in the day staffers at the Guild's office in Quincy said Totten would hold a press conference at 10pm two hours after the union vote. On Boston.com Monday night Totten was quoted as saying "It has been a long and difficult period for everyone and we hope that we can now work with prospective buyers to help The Boston Globe and Boston.com to carry on with its vital mission to promote good journalism and protect free speech." In the same story Globe Publisher P. Steven Ainsley was quoted in a letter to employees saying "I am pleased the Guild membership voted to ratify their new contract. I appreciate the personal sacrifices all Guild members are making and I thank each one for their commitment to this institution." All the Globe's unions have now ratified new contracts with significant cuts in salaries and benefits. For example employees will have to pay more out of pocket for their health insurance. The newsroom advertising and administrative staff who make up the Guild hardly were sanguine about the future of the newspaper. Several reporters told Open Media Boston last month that they expected to vote in favor of negotiated wage cuts as a way in part to "save the paper." This article is a news brief. ************************ Update: Boston Newspaper Guild Members Vote Today On New Contract by Dave Goodman / IBIS Radio (Staff) Jul-20-09 BOSTON/Dorchester - Boston Globe reporters advertising and administrative staff are voting today on the latest contract between themselves and their employer The New York Times Company. Members of the Globe's largest union the Boston Newspaper Guild have until 8pm tonight to vote yes or no on new contract language that includes significant cuts in wages and benefits. The proposed 5.9% cut in salaries for Guild members - agreed upon last month following negotiations between representatives of the union and ownership - is less than the nearly 9% salary reduction voted down by the Globe's Guild members on June 8th. That vote which many employees said was very difficult to make was a narrow 277 to 265 against the proposed contract. Times management immediately imposed a 23% pay cut following the announcement of that vote. Members of the Guild including several interviewed by Open Media Boston said they expected to take some cuts in wages and benefits as a way to help the paper survive the economic downturn. The newspaper's owners and employees have calculated they will save $10 Million as a result of the proposed cuts. Tonight at approximately 10pm Guild President Dan Totten is expected to announce the voting results outside the Morrissey Blvd. offices of the Boston Globe. This article is a news brief. Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati