THE BOSTON Globenewspaper said it is still trying to reach a cost-cutting agreement with its largest union after getting tentative accords with six other unions that brought it closer to avoiding closure.
The Globehas agreements with unions representing mailers, drivers, pressmen and machinists, among others, Robert Powers, a spokesman for the newspaper, said in an e-mail.
Members must vote on the proposals before they take effect.
New York Times Co, the Globe'spublisher, has asked unions to find $20 million (€15 million) in savings, half of it from the Boston Newspaper Guild, according to union president Dan Totten.
The guild submitted a new proposal with more than the $10 million in cuts, Totten said yesterday.
“It’s a game of chicken, not unlike what we just saw happen in the car industry,” said Claire Gruppo, managing director of investment bank Gruppo, Levey Co.
The New York Timeshas been cutting jobs, reducing sections and seeking to sell its minority stake in the Boston Red Sox baseball team as advertising revenue slumped.
The Globemay lose $85 million this year, Times Co has said.
The guild said it is awaiting a new time and date for resuming talks.
The newspaper’s management extended a May 1st deadline by two days after drawing closer to an accord with its 10 unions.
The union’s proposal includes cuts “across virtually all categories of compensation and benefits”, Mr Totten said.
The Guild represents about 600 newsroom employees.
Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for Times Co, said in an e-mail that talks were ongoing.
Union newsroom workers at the New York Timesnewspaper reached a tentative agreement for a 5 per cent pay cut last week that they said would help preserve as many as 80 jobs and save the publisher $4.5 million. – (Bloomberg)
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