The Globe Death Watch had centered largely on negotiations between the paper and the Boston Newspaper Guild union of reporters, but now the Phoenix reports that the Guild is turning on its own. The Guild Executive Board has suspended Guild President Dan Totten's check signing authority and taken away his credit card based on suspicion of mishandling funds. More at the Herald and Globe.
The Boston Newspaper Guild approved $10 million in concessions tonight, marking a possible temporary end to the dragged-out negotiations with Boston Globe owner New York Times Company. Around 80% of Guild members showed up to vote on their fate, with a final score of 366 yay and 179 nay. Maybe this shows that journalism does have a future: just $10 million less of one. According to the Herald, the money-saving deductions include a "5.9 percent pay cut, eight unpaid days off, a pension freeze and the elimination of the 401(k) contributions as well as the lifetime job guarantees held by nearly 200 union members." Dan Kennedy has an email from Boston Globe editor Marty Baron to his workers thanking them for keeping up their "commitment to deliver journalism of the highest caliber" throughout the negotiations. Despite the deal, the Globe is still up for sale for the moment.
According to the Boston Globe, the newspaper has reached a "tentative agreement" with the Boston Newspaper Guild to cut $10 million in wage and benefits whiich are reportedly required to keep the paper from closing. The Globe's largest union recently rejected a similar deal, which led to the paper imposing a 23% wage cut on the 700-member Guild. In the new proposal, there is a 5.9% pay cut. The 23% cut remains in place until the contract is ratified.
According to Boston.com, the Boston Newspaper Guild rejected $10 million in wage and benefit cuts, mandated by The New York Times Co. to keep operating the paper, by a vote of 277-265. WCVB also reported the vote. The Globe reported a high turnout for the vote.
Middlebrow and profligate, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman has never been described as "subtle" or "tactful." Now, his big mouth has inadvertently given the Boston Newspaper Guild a reason to vote against the contracts that the Times is shoving down the throats of its employees at the Globe.
Is the Globe a walking corpse, a lumbering zombie intent on devouring its readers' fragile brains? Or is it more like a vampire with a soul, the undead that still has some good left in it?
At 3:00 this morning, the Boston Newspaper Guild and the New York Times Company reportedly reached a deal that would keep the Boston Globe in business. Salary cuts, unpaid leave, and the demise of lifetime jobs for nearly 200 Guild members helped the Globe save the $20 million requested by the NYT. More details will be available after the Guild's leaders and members meet, reportedly on Thursday, to vote on the agreement.
