Talk about missing a deadline. The Boston Globe management missed a Monday midnight deadline imposed by the New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT) for concessions from all of the newspaper's unions but has reached a tentative agreement with some unions, according to the Globe's Boston.com Web site. The two sides are still negotiating to avert the Times' closure of the 137-year-old newspaper, and a scan of Boston.com shows the Web site is still operating business as usual. The major sticking point between Boston Globe management and the four unions are lifetime job guarantees.
Overall, the Globe reports that union officials have primarily agreed to the $20 million in financial concessions that the Times is seeking. Specifically, Teamsters Local 1 reached an agreement on Monday at 4:30 a.m., giving $5 million in concessions and "changes in the lifetime job guarantee protecting 145 of its members," the Globe reports. Meanwhile, Teamsters Local 259 reached a deal with management that union leaders have said is worth concessions of about $2.5 million. But the pressmen's union and the Boston Newspaper Guild are still trying to reach a resolution on changes to the lifetime job guarantee.
If an agreement falters between Boston Globe management and the unions, the Times will
likely follow through with the closure of the daily, which would continue to publish for 60 days from the initial date of the announcement, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.
The possible Boston Globe closure highlights the continued financial pressure newspapers are facing with the fall in advertising and decreasing subscription. The Times says the Globe is expected to lose $85 million if some concessions are not met.
The Globe is not alone. Late last year, The Newark Star-Ledger averted a closure as its unions gave into owner Advanced Publishing Corp.'s demands for concessions. Meanwhile, a growing trend in newspapers to save in costs is running an online edition only, which Hearst Corp. is doing in Seattle, where it shuttered the Seattle Post-Intelligencer print edition but continued with SeattlePI.com. Such a strategy is a possibility for the Times in Boston given the city's place as one of the most wired in the country. - Gerald Magpily
Boston Globe: Globe negotiations continue
Boston Globe closure link
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