Update: Boston Globe Unions Agree to 5% Pay Cuts; NYT to Dump The Boston Globe; No Bailout for Newspapers
UPDATE:
Unionized employees at the New York Times newspaper on Monday ratified a 5 percent pay cut, according to a memo obtained by Reuters.
New York Times newspaper employees who are members of the New York Newspaper Guild voted 377 to 36 to ratify the pay cut agreement, which includes 10 additional paid days off, while Guild members at the Times’ digital unit ratified the agreement by a 50-0 vote, according to the memo.
The Guild members signed off on an agreement with New York Times management last week designed to save the newspaper $4.5 million.
It has been reported that the New York Times will rid themselves of their subsidiary, The Boston Globe.
Both papers are having trouble making ends meet and the New York Times must dump another paper line if it is to save some money.
Unions have a significant presence at newspaper companies and talks were underway to negotiate before making the final decision on the future of the paper.
Earlier today the Union representatives walked out during the talks. However, it appears that the negotiations may resume a little later today or tomorrow.
The Boston Globe and its biggest union are “taking a break” until later Monday or Tuesday on talks about concessions that parent company The New York Times Co says are crucial to save the newspaper.
The union and management suspended discussions early Monday morning. They have not set a time or location for the next round of talks, a source familiar with the matter, but unauthorized to discuss it, told Reuters.
The Times Co had set midnight Sunday as the deadline to extract $20 million in cost cuts from its unions to avoid closing the Globe, which it said could lose up to $85 million this year.
The Times stepped up pressure on the unions, saying it planned to file notice with the U.S. government that warns it could shut the paper down in 60 days. Negotiations on cost cuts could continue even after that filing.
I personally think that if the paper cannot sell in this market and model its reports to be middle of the road, rather than liberal and biased, then it deserves to go under. Free markets dictate that those companies who make poor business decisions will not stay in business.
Thankfully, at this moment in time, the Obama administration does not plan on bailing out the newspapers:
Newspapers Going Bankrupt; Dems Want Bailed Out ‘Independent’ Media
The New York Times and the Boston Globe are both in dire straits. To add more fuel to the fire, the Boston Globe is owned by the New York Times and both papers are losing significant amounts of money and are experiencing severe debt problems.
As The New York Times Co. tries to bask in the glory of having bagged five Pulitzers, the company is facing a cash crunch that could put it on the path toward insolvency.
According to its first-quarter earnings report, the Times said it had cash and cash equivalents totaling $294 million.
However, $260 million of that is earmarked to pay off debt that matures in March 2010, effectively leaving the company with $34 million.
That’s a particularly precarious position to be in, given the Gray Lady posted a wider-than-expected, first-quarter loss of $74.5 million amid worsening advertising declines, and is scrambling to raise cash as it labors under a $1.3 billion debt load.
This should be an indication of ultra liberal slants on newspapers and how they fare in Capitalist environments. Most newspapers will probably go the way of the Internet with paid member subscriptions, but it’s quite interesting how most of the papers going out of business are more liberal than right-leaning. Read more
