Boston Globe

Mondo Times editors    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:32pm on Monday, June 29th, 2009

The New York Times Co. reportedly set a bid deadline for the Boston Globe, the newspaper reported on June 26, 2009:

"The New York Times Co., through its investment banker, has asked potential buyers of The Boston Globe to submit preliminary bids by July 8, according to people briefed on the sale process.

In a letter to parties that have expressed interest in buying New England’s largest daily, investment banking firm Goldman Sachs & Co., which was hired by the Times Co. to manage a possible sale, said it is looking for preliminary indications of interest, including a potential price range for bids, the people said.

The Times Co. bought the Globe for $1.1 billion in 1993 and the T&G in 2000 for $295 million. The T&G is the largest daily in central Massachusetts."

The full story:
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/06/times_co_report_2.html

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 9:44pm on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

The Boston Globe's largest union has rejected pay cuts, the newspaper reported on June 8, 2009:

"The Boston Globe's largest union tonight narrowly rejected $10 million in wage and benefit cuts, and about an hour later the paper's owner declared an impasse in negotiations and imposed a 23 percent pay cut on the union's members, effective next week.

The move by The New York Times Co., which said the Globe's dire financial condition gave it no choice, could quickly shift the bitter contract dispute from the bargaining table to the National Labor Relations Board and federal courts. The Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents nearly 700 editorial, advertising, and business office workers, has told members it would file unfair labor practice charges with the board, and seek a court order blocking the Times Co. from imposing the pay cut.

In a statement, Globe spokesman Robert Powers said management was disappointed by the vote, and that the company must now move ahead with the deep pay cut. He said the company sent a letter advising Guild officials of the move tonight."

The full story:
http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/06/globes_largest_1.html

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 4:36pm on Saturday, May 9th, 2009

The Boston Globe reached a deal with its largest union, which should avert the threatened closing of the paper, the Globe reported on May 6, 2009:

"The Boston Globe's largest union reached a tentative deal with the New York Times Co. shortly after 3 a.m. this morning, agreeing to a substantial pay cut, unpaid furloughs, and modifications to the lifetime job guarantee provisions that protect almost 200 employees in the Boston Newspaper Guild, according to sources familiar with the deal.

With the agreement, the guild, representing more than 600 editorial, advertising, and business office employees, became the last of the newspaper's major unions to agree to concessions with the Times Co. The Globe's parent company now has the $20 million in concessions that it demanded a month ago. And perhaps more importantly, the Times Co. succeeded in changing the job guarantee language, which was widely considered a roadblock to any potential sale of New England's largest newspaper."

Eric Kallgren    Boulder, Colorado USA

Posted at 10:30pm on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

The New York Times Company is playing hardball with the unions at the Boston Globe, the New York Times reported on May 4, 2009:

"Negotiations between the New York Times Company and the Boston Newspaper Guild over concessions that could avert the closure of The Boston Globe apparently reached Sunday’s midnight deadline without a deal.

Little more than an hour before the deadline, the Times Company said it would file a notice under federal law stating its intention of closing The Globe within 60 days."

The full story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/business/media/04paper.html?ref=media