Globe's management, unions must agree to take a hit to survive
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THE BOSTON Globe, as a business in crisis mode, must take immediate action to survive. Just like any business, this requires urgent short-term business decisions. The Globe has about 320,000 daily customers purchasing its quality product, which changes in content according to the limited resources it has available. The Globe's management team and its dominant labor unions must find their way to adapt to a radically smaller business model.
Revenue has dropped dramatically, yet the market remains to produce a big city newspaper, albeit in a rather different and revised form. This market change happened long before the current national economic crisis.
All employees of the Globe must agree to substantially reduce their compensation and benefits and to accept some layoffs before they end up strangling their parent company by destroying the hand that feeds them. Globe employees may soon join their fellow citizens in growing unemployment lines - fellow citizens who would gladly swap their unemployment checks for payroll checks from the Globe.
There's a long list of local corporations that were once prosperous and offered well-paying jobs. Some failed to adapt quickly enough. Remember Digital Equipment Corp., Wang Laboratories, Prime Computer, Data General, Polaroid, and GTE? Sadly, they faded into history along with so many others.
In contrast,
At age 137, the Globe must somehow mature and do the same.
Donald Almeida
North Easton
IT'S NO wonder the Globe lost $50 million dollars last year and is on track to lose another $85 million this year. Who in their right mind gives employees a guarantee of lifetime employment? With decisions like that, it's surprising that you're still in business. Shame on the unions for requesting something so outrageous and on management for acquiescing to such lunacy.
What's more, a 5 percent salary reduction for upper management is a joke when many are earning seven-figure and high-six-figure incomes. The
And in the interest of full disclosure, I'm a former reporter (for another publication) and former union member.
Geri Spanek
Boston
