Union, Globe in talks about standoff over cuts

Boston Globe management and the paper’s largest union have been in intense talks for more than six hours, trying to end a bitter standoff that is costing the union’s members nearly one-fourth of their paychecks.

What was supposed to be an informational session at a labor office in Weymouth to discuss a 23 percent wage cut appears to have turned into a bargaining session. Leaders of the Boston Newspaper Guild brought an ‘‘offer of resolution’’ to management, and the two sides have been in deep discussions over the mix of wage and benefit cuts needed to achieve the $10 million in savings demanded by the paper’s owner, The New York Times Co.

The talks come just a week after the Guild narrowly rejected a $10 million package of concessions, and a day after a company-imposed 23 percent wage cut on the nearly 700 editorial, advertising, and business office employees represented by the Guild.

Globe management imposed the wage cut after declaring an impasse in the negotiations following last week’s vote. The Guild quickly launched a legal challenge, filing an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. The first hearing in what is usually a long process is scheduled for tomorrow.

The Guild is the only major union that has not approved concessions sought by the Times Co., which in early April threatened to shutter the money-losing paper unless it could gain a total of $20 million in savings from Globe unions. The Globe is projected to lose $85 million without significant cost reductions, according to the Times Co.

Unions representing press operators, mailers, and delivery truck drivers, as well as several smaller unions, have ratified wage and benefit cuts totaling slightly more than $10 million.
(By Robert Gavin, Globe staff)