Contract Talks Continue Between Globe Workers and New York Times Company; Globe Reporters Speak Out

Quincy and Milton MA - Referring to contract discussions held Monday and continuing into early this morning between the Boston Globe’s largest employee union and corporate owner The New York Times Company Boston Newspaper Guild President Dan Totten’s statement was short and concise: "Talks are continuing. They will resume again on Tuesday." Globe spokesman Robert Powers was quoted in this morning’s newspaper as saying “we discussed many issues during today’s [Monday’s] meeting with the Guild but have not reached an agreement.” A week ago Monday in a 277 to 265 vote Guild members – including reporters advertising salespeople and business staff - rejected a proposed contract that included significant cuts in salaries and benefits. Almost immediately afterward Globe owner The New York Times Company declared an impasse in negotiations and imposed a 23 per cent pay cut beginning this week. The Guild then filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board. Hearings on the dispute over the pay cuts were scheduled to begin today (Tuesday) in Boston. While Totten and other Boston Newspaper Guild leaders have expressed agreement that some cuts are necessary they also believe a resolution with ownership is near. On Sunday at a Guild sponsored cook out at the Milton home of Arts and Culture reporter Joanna Weiss Globe Spotlight Team investigative reporter and member of the Guild’s Governing Board Scott Allen said “despite all the rhetoric and the brinksmanship and the 23 percent pay cut that we’ve just endured today the two sides are not that far apart. “The reporters and the editors and the business people in the Guild we get it. We know the New York Times needs help and that we have to do our part.” Referring to the Times and Globe management Allen added “we hope now they get it; that they can only push us so far. All of us have [gone] four years without any pay increase; there’s been a pay freeze for all intents and purposes so when you start cutting our pay after four years of pay freeze that’s a pretty serious thing to do. We know it has to go down we know we have to help out but what they asked last week was too much.” In April a front page headline and story in the Globe announced that The New York Times Company would shut down the Globe and possibly other holdings in New England such as the Worcester Telegram and Gazette if employees did not agree to wage and benefit cuts amounting to $10 million. Since then other smaller unions representing printers drivers and administrative staff have agreed to take pay cuts. Overall say Times officials the company stands to lose up to $85 million in 2009. The investment firm of Goldman Sachs has been hired by the Times Company to seek bids for the Globe. Various reports have mentioned Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca and former Globe executive Stephen Taylor as possible buyers. Another possibility is for the employees to buy an ownership stake in the paper a concept supported by the national Newspaper Guild and the Communications Workers of America union. Asked his preference among various scenarios for the future including a possible sale of the paper 17 year Globe veteran Scott Allen said “There’s no question that the New York Times has a done a great deal of harm to its credibility in Boston and its relationship to the people who work for the Boston Globe. I don’t want to start saying they have to get out of town. But they certainly have a lot of work to do if they want to be held in the same esteem they once were; they have to reverse a very difficult and really painful three months. “The fact that they’re up for sale and that the Times is aggressively trying to sell the Globe does not particularly upset me. I think it really depends on who the buyer is. There are some buyers I’ve heard could be intriguing and great. There are other buyers I think ‘uh oh ’ please don’t sell us… I just know they’re trying really hard [to sell us] and I’m comfortable with that.” OMB Audio: Excerpt from interview with Scott Allen on Sunday June 14 2009: Metro/Region reporter Stephanie Ebbert writes about the inner workings of city and state agencies and their management of state and local infrastructure such as parks roads and bridges. Recently she's covered the Sail Boston - Tall Ships controversy with the city of Boston and efforts by food pantries around the state to weather the economic downturn. Ebbert says the Guild vote last week was extremely difficult for her "... both to decide on and obviously to live with. It’s just been such a difficult time for everyone and we...want to be able to move on and it keeps carrying on further and further. So it’s been tense." She says she cast a yes vote in favor of the contract proposed by The New York Times Company "...because I want it over." But she understands the forces which led to a majority of her colleagues to vote no to the contract despite the possible consequences. OMB Audio: Excerpt from interview with Stephanie Ebbert on Sunday June 14 2009: Beth Daley has been with the Globe since 1994 just before the newspaper was purchased by The New York Times. She's an environment reporter "...covering the earth sciences including environmental health for the Boston Globe health & science section" according to her biography on Boston.com. Prior to the environment beat she covered the Boston Public Schools for the Metro section of the paper. Daley says she has somewhat of a unique perspective on the financial and editorial ups and downs of the paper starting her journalism career at the Globe as a Northeastern University cooperative internship student. OMB Audio: Excerpt from interview with Beth Daley on Sunday June 14 2009: Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati