NYT Co. Plays Hardball with Boston Globe, Imposes 23% Pay Cut
Richard Perez-Pena reported Wednesday that the Boston Globe's largest union filed a complaint with federal regulators, challenging a 23 percent pay cut imposed by the struggling newspaper. The guild called on the paper's owner - the New York Times Co. - to resume negotiations.
The long public tussle between NYT Co. management and the scribes at the struggling Boston Globe have shown conclusively that the NYT Co., which poses as a friend of workers on the editorial page of its flagship publication, isn't averse to using strong-arm managerial tactics when it comes to protecting its own bottom line.
The paper and its owner, The New York Times Company, said on Monday and again on Tuesday that the unilateral pay cut would take effect next week with no more talks. The current contract contains a provision to reopen talks on wages this year and management contends that, once an impasse was reached, it could unilaterally lower wages.
The drastic move will evidently preserve the Globe for the time being, after speculation it would be closed down by the NYT Co., which paid a now-staggering $1.1 billionfor it in 1993.
Jack Welch, former CEO for General Electric, posted about the NYT Co.'s hypocrisy on his Twitter page Wednesday morning:
So ironic to see NYT act so brutish toward labor. Certainly would be crucifying any Company with labor practices like theirs.
