77% of something vs 100% of nothing

Posted: June 9, 2009 by datechguy in opinion/news
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That is what the Boston Globe’s union voted for:

The Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents 700 editorial, advertising and business employees, voted 277-265 Monday against the new contract negotiated after the Times Co. said it needed $20 million in annual savings from Globe unions — half from the Guild.

The Times Co. demanded the concessions amid an increasingly dire financial situation at the Globe. The newspaper has struggled as readers migrated to the Internet, advertising revenue declined drastically and circulation fell. The Globe had $50 million in operating losses in 2008 and had been projected to lose $85 million this year.

The result will now be a 23% cut in pay which gives the guild members a choice between 77% of something vs 100% of nothing. Hot air comments:.

The irony here is that the Boston Globe’s owners (aka the New York Times) usually takes a very pro-union stance, editorially speaking. Now, however, the company has decided to take up union-busting. Who knew that they wanted to emulate Ronald Reagan in his handling of PATCO?

Now that should annoy them.

Hopefully, though, cooler heads will prevail and both sides will step back from the brink. Boston is a city that can and should have at least two major dailies, even if in a different format than the dead-tree drop.

Yes it would be nice if we had a two major dailies, instead we have the Boston Herald and an elitist paper that won’t even cover news in its own city that it ideological opposes. If it wasn’t for the sports page it would be a waste of space.

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