Publisher: Globe cuts will extend to managers

Ainsley did not directly address the threat by the paper's owner, The New York Times Co., to shutter the paper if unions do not quickly agree to $20 million in concessions. But he acknowledged that media reports on a threatened shutdown were "jarring" to employees. Union officials and other employees briefed on the meetings have confirmed the threat.

"It remains our standing policy that we never discuss ongoing labor negotiations publicly. For that reason, I cannot provide further detail," Ainsley wrote. "We will need significant concessions from labor and we are also framing a plan to draw more savings from the nonunion ranks, as we have done over the course of the last several months."

The Times Co. recently imposed a temporary 5 percent pay cut for nonunion employees in Boston and New York, in exchange for 10 additional days off this year. Ainsley said about 20 percent of management jobs at the Globe have already been cut.

"It is only fair that management also be prepared to make sacrifices," Ainsley said in the memo. "More work is to be done on this front, and will be."

Ainsley's memo was sent as Globe and Times Co. executives began meeting this week with individual unions to detail the concessions the company is seeking. Today the company meets with the Globe's largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents about 700 editorial, advertising, and business office workers.

Several union leaders and members have said they would accept concessions if executives and nonunion managers also take cuts to pay and benefits. Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, declined to comment on Ainsley's memo.

From the unions, the Times Co. is seeking pay cuts, reduced contributions to retirement and healthcare, and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees now enjoyed by about 430 employees, according to union officials and others familiar with the matter. About 170 of those are members of the Newspaper Guild.

Without deep cuts in costs, the Globe is projected to lose $85 million this year, following a loss of about $50 million last year, according to an employee briefed on the talks with the unions.

In his memo, Ainsley said he believed the paper could overcome its current financial problems. At the meeting with union leaders, he wrote, executives presented a strategy to generate more revenue from readers and advertisers, although he did not provide further detail.

Times Co. and Globe officials declined to comment further.

"It is critical we all keep in mind that our objective is to improve the financial performance of the Globe," he wrote. "As bruising as this economic downturn has been to this institution, I believe we will accomplish that objective if all of us keep our focus."

Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com.