The PD wants to cut our pay and to make those cuts permanent, but at the mother ship, a “spirit of cooperation” between the Guild and management could result in the company restoring a 5 percent cut that was earlier agreed to by union members. The company is also going to offer voluntary buyouts in lieu of layoffs. The regionals and New York don’t always operate on the same track, but still, it’s striking how different relations are between the Guild and management at the corporate and local levels. Is it asking too much for the goodwill to trickle down? Read the full story here:
New York Times open to voluntary union buyouts
By ANDREW VANACORE
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Times told its main union this week
that it is open to offering voluntary buyouts in a move that could
avert additional layoffs as the newspaper seeks to further cut
costs.
The newspaper also guaranteed to restore pay for union members
in January, after they had their salaries cut by 5 percent earlier
in the year.
The New York Newspaper Guild said in a memo to members Friday
that additional meetings will be scheduled to hammer out details of
any buyout offer.
Last year, the Times resorted to a limited but unspecified
number of newsroom layoffs to meet its goal of reducing head count
there by 100, largely through attrition and buyouts. The Times also
cut about 100 people in its business operations this year.
Nonunion workers also had their pay cut by 5 percent; Times
spokeswoman Diane McNulty declined to say whether they are also
guaranteed to have their pay restored.
The Times is owned by The New York Times Co., which also
publishes The Boston Globe, the International Herald Tribune and
more than a dozen smaller daily newspapers.
With advertising revenue down sharply during the recession, the
company has been slashing costs. After losing $74.5 million in the
first three months of the year, it notched a profit of $39.1
million in the second quarter. The turnaround came despite another
steep drop in ad revenue.
In its memo, the Guild said its meeting with the company’s
flagship newspaper “took place in a spirit of cooperation.”
Relations with union members at the Times have been more
congenial than at The Boston Globe, which the Times Co. threatened
to close earlier this year if unions didn’t accept concessions as
part of the Globe’s efforts to control costs. In June, members of
the Boston Newspaper Guild narrowly rejected a package of pay and
benefit cuts, prompting the company to unilaterally cut wages by 23
percent before a deal was reached.
The Guild said Times management signaled it was willing to offer
voluntary buyouts at the Times, rather than lay off employees
outright, because members had “stepped up” by voting to accept
the 5 percent pay cut.
AP-WS-09-25-09 1533EDT