“Beat the Press” blogger-in-chief Ralph Ranalli writes that Boston Globe staffers are now “cautiously optimistic” that the New York Times Co. and the Boston Newspaper Guild will come to an agreement in renewed talks, which resume next week.
And Ranalli asks an excellent question: How can the Times Co. stick to the 23 percent pay cut — based on its contention that the two sides are at an impasse — when management and the Guild are actively engaged in bargaining sessions?
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Tim Allik
It's curious how little traffic this piece of good news has generated amongst the commenting community here at Media Nation (Actually, zero until my post just now). If it bleeds it leads, I guess.
Mike Saunders
Tim, it generated little traffic because it's not really "good news." The Globe and Guild have been at impasse before, and the Globe instituted contract terms while continuing to talk. The same situation at the Salem news lasted 5 1/2 years.
insidernegot
There is little traffic because the threat to close the Globe has passed, for now. For reasons too lenghty to go into here, the outcome of the Guild’s negotiations were never going to have a major impact on the NYT's decision to close the Globe. But to Ranalli's question, Impasse is not just an expression, it is a legal term. The NYT doesn't really care and won't have to prove anyting. Once Impasse is declared, the union has the option of going to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and argue that they are not at a legal impasse. While they may win in the end, the process can take months. Months that members are suffering under a 23% pay cut. Guild leadership took a calculated risk that the Globe would not impose the 23% cut if the proposal was voted down. They lost that bet. They have apparently decided now that either their NLRB case is weak or that they do not want or cannot politically fight the Globe for months while their members suffer the wage cut. You can be sure that any deal done now will require the withdrawal of the Guild's NLRB charges.