Globe Says It Won't File Shutdown Notice Monday

The Boston Globe says it has reached agreements with six of the seven unions engaged in negotiations to prevent the newspaper from shutting down.

The New York Times Co., which owns the Globe, is seeking $20 million in concessions. Talks broke down with the Globe's largest union, the Boston Newspaper Guild, about eight hours after the midnight deadline Monday.

Even so, the Times Co. says progress with the other unions is enough to hold off filing a plant closure notice, which is required under federal law.

Globe spokesman Bob Powers released the following statement just before noon Monday:

We are very pleased to have reached agreements with six of the seven unions that were involved in recent negotiations. This includes agreements with the drivers, mailers, pressmen, the electricians, machinists, and technical services group.

As a result of these agreements, which are subject to ratification by union members, we expect to achieve both the workplace flexibility and the financial savings that we sought from these unions. We are not, therefore, making a filing today under the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act. We appreciate the productive and cooperative approach demonstrated by the leadership of these unions throughout these difficult negotiations.

We are disappointed, however, that we have not yet been able to reach an agreement with the Guild. Because of that, we are evaluating our alternatives under both the Guild contract and applicable law to achieve as quickly as possible the workplace flexibility and remaining cost savings we need to help put The Globe on a sound financial footing.

-Bob Powers
Vice President
Communications and Public Affairs
The Boston Globe