Monday, May 04, 2009

Lost in the Times/Globe Shuffle

is the fact that the Globe's lone union still holding out did make the $10 million in concessions asked of them.
As the midnight deadline approached, union officials said they had essentially agreed to financial concessions that the Times Co. was seeking. The Guild, in a statement tonight, said the union had ‘‘presented the New York Times Company and Globe management with a proposal that exceeds the $10 million in cuts demanded.
Obviously, though you wouldn't know it by what the Times and Globe is reporting, this isn't about the money. It's about the lifetime guarantees. Can't sell the paper until you get rid of them. Maybe the Times should have thought about that before it agreed to those terms when it took on more than a billion to acquire the Boston Globe in 1993, money that's handicapping the papers now? Seems as if it's those two bad business decisions now that's crippling the paper, not the unions.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who gets lifetime guarantees for their jobs besides the Pope and Mass legislators?

Ryan said...

The NYT should have thought about that before it agreed to them.

Moreover, if that's what all of this is about now, that's what the NYT should be talking about.

Anonymous said...

Businesses have the right to change the rules for their own benefit/survival. They provide the place of employment. If the unions wanted to hold them to the contracts that were in place, they could have except then there is no paper. Even if this was all about the lifetime jobs, so what. I have been told by supervisors before if you don't like company decisions leave and you know what they're right.

Ryan said...

Only in America are people so willing to be ran over by the back of the bus. Anon, yours is a sad commentary of all too many in this country.

Anonymous said...

What's wrong with that, if you don't like your job leave. If you really don't like your job create your own business/company to compete with the poorly run company you are leaving. I'm sure you'll do better if you have better ideas. Just hope the government isn't so intrusive you can't get your better ideas going.

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