Boston Globe, Guild Talks to Resume Next Week, No Agreement Yet (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

Poynter Online ^ | June 17, 2009 | Julie Moos

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Talks between the Boston Globe's largest union and management wrapped up around 4 a.m. today, after two marathon sessions in two days failed to resolve disagreement over how to achieve $10 million in cuts. Globe spokesman Robert Powers said that talks are tentatively scheduled to resume next Monday.

Boston Newspaper Guild president Dan Totten released a statement early Wednesday saying, "We are optimistic about the prospects for reaching an agreement after our most recent talks with the Company. The discussions will continue today."

The two sides are scheduled to talk informally by phone today, with formal negotiations resuming next week.

About 13 hours of discussion Tuesday followed a 13-14-hour session on Monday, originally scheduled as an "information session" to detail the 23-percent pay cut imposed by management when the Boston Newspaper Guild rejected its contract offer by 12 votes last week.

As a result of the 23 percent pay cut, the union filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board, which was supposed to meet about the issue Tuesday. That meeting was rescheduled for Thursday.

Guild president Daniel Totten said Tuesday's talks focused on alternatives to the 23 percent pay cut, which took effect Sunday and will continue to be in effect until a new contract is ratified by the union.

The New York Times Company, which owns the Globe, hired an investment bank to handle a potential sale of the paper last week. Three potential buyers have since been identified, although Poynter's Rick Edmonds believes an immediate sale is still unlikely.

As Edmonds told the Globe, though, resolving the labor dispute will help sale prospects: "Getting the Guild contract resolved puts everything on an even keel ... If it's not resolved, you have uncertainty about what's going to happen, ongoing labor unrest, and potentially a big worry about any liabilities for not bargaining in good faith."

This week's talks included national Guild president Bernard Lunzer, who acknowledged last week that "mistakes were made" in previous negotiations. Lunzer "made it clear that he 'wants to take part and help bring about a resolution,'" Globe reporter Scott Allen told the Herald.

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http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2009/06/globe_union_tal_2.html
Globe, union talks to continue next week

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