The New York Times scored a much-needed win yesterday as members of the union representing 1,200 workers at its flagship paper strongly voted for a 5 percent pay cut that goes into effect today.
The cut matches a salary reduction that went into effect for management and non-union workers on April 1. In the case of both union and non-union workers, the pay reduction is expected to stay in place through the year. The company said the approval would help it save $4.5 million.
By voting for the salary cut, the members of the Newspaper Guild avoided the newspaper having to cut 80 jobs, though neither the Times nor the union have ruled out the possibility of layoffs.
Meanwhile, the fate of the Times’ Boston Globe unit rests largely on lifetime job guarantees that date back to when the paper was sold to the Times in 1993, and are now a major sticking point between Times management and the paper’s largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild.
The Times has struck deals with six of seven unions at the Globe to cut $20 million in costs, but negotiations are at an impasse with the guild. Both sides said they plan to resume talks, but have not set a specific date. The Times is demanding $10 million in concessions from the guild, including eliminating the guarantees, to avoid closing the paper.
Most of the guarantees were granted by the Times shortly after it bought the Globe for $1.1 billion. Some 470 employees across six unions have guarantees, including about 190 guild members. The guild’s president, Dan Totten, said it offered more than the $10 million in concessions, but he called eliminating the guarantees a “non-starter.”
The Times held off delivering a death sentence to the Globe after reaching deals with several smaller unions representing the pressmen, machinists, drivers and mailers.