As NY Plays Hardball, Globe Swings in Wind

Tensions high as last union works toward deal with Times Co.

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted May 5, 2009 7:13 AM CDT

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As NY Plays Hardball, Globe Swings in Wind — A front page news brief highlights the deadline for reaching an agreement on $20 million in concessions from the unions at The Boston Globe Friday, May 1, 2009, in Boston. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes)

Tensions are high as the last of seven Boston Globe unions tries to hammer out a deal with the New York Times Company, the Washington Post reports. The Boston Newspaper Guild has blasted the Times Co’s “bullying tactics” in negotiations set to resume as soon as today, but a sense of dread pervades the newsroom, as well: “I think people feel this isn't going to end well for us as a group in the next six, nine, 12 months,” said a columnist.

A Boston journalism professor slammed Times chair Arthur Sulzberger Jr. for keeping his doors closed to the public. “Sulzberger has yet to talk to Boston, and we feel like he owes us an explanation—it's our newspaper,” he said. “I think we're going to make it this time," said a longtime Globe reporter. "It's the long-term future that scares everyone.”
(More Boston Globe stories.)

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