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

(Newser) – 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.”

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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)

An employee of The Boston Globe, right, hoists a sign in front of Boston's Faneuil Hall at the start of a rally held to help save the paper, April 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A side entrance of the Boston Globe is seen at the newspaper's Morrissey Boulevard offices in Boston, Mass., Monday afternoon, May 4, 2009. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

A copy of the Boston Globe is seen after a home delivery in North Andover, Mass. Thursday, April 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

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It's posturing by both sides. The New York Times doesn't want to embarrass itself by shutting down one of the great institutions, not only of Boston but of America, really. - State House bureau chief Frank Philips

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As NY Plays Hardball, Globe Swings in Wind