GOODY TWO SHOES: New York Times Pro-Union, Except When It’s Not
The Boston Newspaper Guild voted down the $10 million in concessions on wages and benefits The New York Times insisted on, else it would impose an across-the-bard 23 percent pay cut and possibly shutter the financially troubled Boston Globe, reports The Washington Times:
Union officials had no immediate reaction. The pay cuts take effect next week. The union earlier promised to take legal action should the cuts go into effect.
The guild, which represents editorial, advertising and business employees, allowed its members to vote on the package, but did not endorse it. …
The Times paid $1.1 billion for the Globe in 1994, and the paper is now losing more than $1 million a week. The Times, meanwhile, is suffering through employee buyouts, pay cuts and a 28 percent drop in advertising revenue.
Some observers say the challenge has caused the traditionally pro-union Manhattan paper to change its stripes.
"It is horribly ironic that the New York Times, which is notoriously anti-business, now finds itself in the very role of the firms it often maligns. It is forced by a changing business climate to make hard choices to survive," said Dan Gainor, vice president for business and culture at the Alexandria-based Media Research Center.
One reason the proposal failed is that the rank-and-file resented having to bear the brunt of the unpaid furloughs and benefit cuts. The 23 percent cut – which includes management – is supposed to begin next week, but the Guild has already filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over the “drastic and extreme” wage cut. A hearing is scheduled June 16th.
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