Times Co. CEO affirms Globe bargaining deadline

Janet L. Robinson, chief executive of the New York Times Co., today said the company intends to stick to its May 1 deadline to gain $20 million in concessions from unions at the Boston Globe. Without concessions, the Times Co. has threatened to shutter the money-losing newspaper, according to union officials.

"We've talked to them about the May 1 deadline and I think they know it's the date we need for them to get back to us," Robinson said in an interview with the Globe at the Times Co.'s annual meeting in New York.

Globe Publisher P. Steven Ainsley in an interview today also confirmed for the first time that the newspaper is projected to lose $85 million this year without significant cost reductions. He declined further comment.

In a meeting with nonunion managers last week, Ainsley laid out a plan to close the gap through a combination of cost reductions and new revenues.

Ainsley expects to gain new advertising revenues from the expansion of Boston.com's hyperlocal sites, known as Your Towns, according to a memo sent to staff summarizing the managers meeting. In addition, the memo said, executives see the opportunity to increase revenues from consumers and advertisers by "launching new digital services and consumer-pay programs that do not eat into advertising revenues."
(By Robert Gavin and Keith O'Brien, Globe staff)