< Back to front page Text size – +

As Globe closure looms, pressmen reach agreement; Guild goes home

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 4, 2009 10:03 AM

rizer_globe%20deadline2%20_%20met_001.jpg
(George Rizer/Globe Staff)

Newspaper Guild president Daniel Totten, far left in white shirt, spoke early this morning to a group that included the lead negotiator for Globe management, Gregory L. Thornton.

By David Abel and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

WEYMOUTH – The Boston Globe pressmen’s union said this morning it reached a tentative agreement with the New York Times Co., but representatives from the newspaper’s largest union have taken a break from bargaining after the company rejected its latest offer, which included $10 million in cuts to salaries and benefits.

Gregory L. Thornton (left), lead negotiator for Globe management, spoke this morning with Martin Callaghan, president of the Boston Newspaper Printing Pressmen Union. (George Rizer/Globe Staff)

Gregory L. Thornton, a Globe senior vice president for human resources and management's chief negotiator, said this morning that "substantial progress" had been made after a marathon bargaining session.

The New York Times Co. issued an ultimatum last night, saying it was prepared to begin the process of shuttering the 137-year-old newspaper if its unions do not agree to major financial and contract concessions, including the abolition of lifetime job guarantees for some workers. The closing process would be triggered by a filing, notifying the state of its intention to shut the Globe within 60 days.

"We have no plans to file a notice at this moment," Thornton said as he left the negotiations.

The Boston Newspaper Guild, the Globe’s largest union representing more than 600 editorial, advertising, and business office workers, said management rejected a proposal that included a 3.5 percent pay cut for most employees, an unpaid furlough, an increase in the early retirement age, and a reduction in pension and 401(a) contributions.

“They rejected our on-the-record offer,” said Guild President Daniel Totten. “It’s the same bullying and pressure tactics. We remain here in good faith.”

Catherine Mathis, a spokeswoman for the Times Co., declined to comment this morning.

Negotiators for the Guild have not spoken to management since 9:15 last night, Totten said, when the company rejected the offer. The last few days the Guild has provided “multiple” proposals that exceed the $10 million in cuts demanded by the company, according to Totten, who would not say what is holding up the agreement. As Totten left the negotiation site at Sacred Heart Parish in Weymouth this morning, he said they were exhausted and taking a break to get some rest.

“The negotiations are done today,” Totten said. “We will reconvene in short order.”

The Boston Newspaper Printing Pressmen Union, however, announced this morning that it had reached a tentative deal with management, according to union president Martin Callaghan.

“It was a difficult negotiation,” said Callaghan, who would not give details of the agreement before he met with his membership. “We had a closed contract. We were reluctant to reopen it, but the economic times as they are, we did what we had to do to protect our members' jobs. We were asked to give $2.2 million, and we did.”

The pressmen’s union expects to call a meeting this week with its 200 members and expects a ratification vote this month, Callaghan said, adding “It will not be days, it will most likely be weeks.”

The Globe reported in today's paper that talks intensified after management, just before 10 p.m., issued an ultimatum to the four major unions: Agree to major financial and contract concessions, including the abolition of lifetime job guarantees for some workers, or the Times Co. would begin the shutdown process. For more details on the past month of negotiations, click here.