Most Popular
1. Banking Crisis is Stocks Bull Market Buying Opportunity - Nadeem_Walayat
2.The Crypto Signal for the Precious Metals Market - P_Radomski_CFA
3. One Possible Outcome to a New World Order - Raymond_Matison
4.Nvidia Blow Off Top - Flying High like the Phoenix too Close to the Sun - Nadeem_Walayat
5. Apple AAPL Stock Trend and Earnings Analysis - Nadeem_Walayat
6.AI, Stocks, and Gold Stocks – Connected After All - P_Radomski_CFA
7.Stock Market CHEAT SHEET - - Nadeem_Walayat
8.US Debt Ceiling Crisis Smoke and Mirrors Circus - Nadeem_Walayat
9.Silver Price May Explode - Avi_Gilburt
10.More US Banks Could Collapse -- A Lot More- EWI
Last 7 days
Stock Market Volatility (VIX) - 25th Mar 24
Stock Market Investor Sentiment - 25th Mar 24
The Federal Reserve Didn't Do Anything But It Had Plenty to Say - 25th Mar 24
Stock Market Breadth - 24th Mar 24
Stock Market Margin Debt Indicator - 24th Mar 24
It’s Easy to Scream Stocks Bubble! - 24th Mar 24
Stocks: What to Make of All This Insider Selling- 24th Mar 24
Money Supply Continues To Fall, Economy Worsens – Investors Don’t Care - 24th Mar 24
Get an Edge in the Crypto Market with Order Flow - 24th Mar 24
US Presidential Election Cycle and Recessions - 18th Mar 24
US Recession Already Happened in 2022! - 18th Mar 24
AI can now remember everything you say - 18th Mar 24
Bitcoin Crypto Mania 2024 - MicroStrategy MSTR Blow off Top! - 14th Mar 24
Bitcoin Gravy Train Trend Forecast 2024 - 11th Mar 24
Gold and the Long-Term Inflation Cycle - 11th Mar 24
Fed’s Next Intertest Rate Move might not align with popular consensus - 11th Mar 24
Two Reasons The Fed Manipulates Interest Rates - 11th Mar 24
US Dollar Trend 2024 - 9th Mar 2024
The Bond Trade and Interest Rates - 9th Mar 2024
Investors Don’t Believe the Gold Rally, Still Prefer General Stocks - 9th Mar 2024
Paper Gold Vs. Real Gold: It's Important to Know the Difference - 9th Mar 2024
Stocks: What This "Record Extreme" Indicator May Be Signaling - 9th Mar 2024
My 3 Favorite Trade Setups - Elliott Wave Course - 9th Mar 2024
Bitcoin Crypto Bubble Mania! - 4th Mar 2024
US Interest Rates - When WIll the Fed Pivot - 1st Mar 2024
S&P Stock Market Real Earnings Yield - 29th Feb 2024
US Unemployment is a Fake Statistic - 29th Feb 2024
U.S. financial market’s “Weimar phase” impact to your fiat and digital assets - 29th Feb 2024
What a Breakdown in Silver Mining Stocks! What an Opportunity! - 29th Feb 2024
Why AI will Soon become SA - Synthetic Intelligence - The Machine Learning Megatrend - 29th Feb 2024
Keep Calm and Carry on Buying Quantum AI Tech Stocks - 19th Feb 24

Market Oracle FREE Newsletter

How to Protect your Wealth by Investing in AI Tech Stocks

Brain Dead Union Puts its Members Out of Work

Politics / Recession 2008 - 2010 Jun 09, 2009 - 02:04 AM GMT

By: Mike_Shedlock

Politics

Best Financial Markets Analysis ArticleOn Monday, the Boston Globe union voted down a contract proposal that would have cut pay and benefits by 10%. Now the union faces cuts of 23%, and possibly the end of the newspaper altogether.


Let's backtrack for a moment to take a look at the negotiations that have clearly fallen apart. Prior to the vote, the Boston Globe Union Attacks Management

Members of the Guild will vote Monday on the concessions negotiated after the Times Co. said it needed $20 million in annual savings from Globe unions to avoid having to shut down the 137-year-old newspaper. The Globe had $50 million in operating losses in 2008 and had been projected to lose $85 million this year.

The Times Co. demanded half the concessions from the Guild -- the Globe's largest union with 700 editorial, advertising and business employees. The new contract proposal includes an 8.3 percent wage cut, five-day unpaid furloughs and cuts in benefits. It also would end lifetime job guarantees for 190 Guild workers.

"It is essential and non-negotiable that we achieve $10 million in cost savings from the Guild," Ainsley said. "Our financial situation is too urgent and further delays to resolution are not an option."

If the union rejects the proposal, the Times Co. could seek to declare an impasse, which could let it follow through with threats to impose a 23 percent wage cut.

Beth Daley, a union delegate and environmental reporter at the Globe, said in an interview Thursday that many colleagues likely would reject the proposal -- some because of increased health care costs, others because of pension cuts.

"For a lot of people, it's just the darn pay," said Daley, who also planned to vote "no."

Boston Globe Union Rejects Offer

Please consider Boston Globe Union Rejects Wage and Benefits Cuts .

After weeks of labor tension and 12 hours of suspenseful voting, members of the Newspaper Guild at The Boston Globe narrowly rejected a proposed package of wage and compensation cuts. As a result, the newspaper’s owner, The New York Times Company, said it would proceed with its threat to unilaterally impose a 23 percent salary cut.

My Comment: Nice Going Unions! You would not agree to -10% so now you face -23%.

“With today’s vote, members of the Boston Newspaper Guild have said that the New York Times Company must do better,” he said. “Boston Newspaper Guild is committed to resuming good-faith negotiations.”

The package put up for a vote included a wage reduction of about 8.4 percent, a one-week unpaid furlough equivalent to a pay cut of 1.9 percent, the elimination of company contributions to retirement plans and an array of other concessions.

Union officials had said before the voting that they would fight any unilateral cut with the National Labor Relations Board and they hoped that rejection of the company proposal would instead lead to a new round of negotiations that would produce a package more amenable to the union’s membership.

My Comment: If the National Labor Relations Board upholds the union's position, the Times will shut down the Globe. It will be the union's last hollow victory.

“This is not the time to go to war,” said one such employee, Scott Allen, a reporter, after the vote was announced. “This is the time for management and labor to sit down and work out an agreement.”

My Comment: If this was not the time for war than why did the union vote for war?

Dan Kennedy, a journalism professor at Northeastern University who has closely followed the talks, said the showdown had been badly mishandled on both sides, by a belligerent union leadership and a company that never adequately explained itself.

The fortunes of the Times Company, like those of the entire industry, have turned sharply downward over the last two years — and especially in the last six months — as a long-term slide in advertising worsened.

The company posted a net loss of $57.8 million for 2008, and $74.5 million in the first quarter of this year. The Globe has been the biggest drain by far, with operating losses of $50 million last year and a projected $85 million this year, not counting the union concessions, according to management.

Several other unions have approved concessions, including the drivers, who voted on Sunday, increasing the significance of the guild vote.

Like most American newspapers, The Globe has already gone through a drastic downsizing. “It’s simply tragic that one of the great regional newspapers, The Boston Globe, is unable to operate in the black, and tragic to watch the thinning of the paper over time,” said Alberto Ibargüen, a former Miami Herald publisher and president and chief executive of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. “But it’s going on in every city in America.”

Message to brain dead union leadership:

Here's The Deal

1) The Globe had operating losses of $50 million last year and a projected $85 million for 2009.
2) The parent company lost money as well.
3) The alternative to pay cuts is the entire newspaper might shut down.

Questions for the Guild: Exactly what is it about the above that you fail to understand? Isn't a job with a 10% paycut better than no job at all?

Those afflicted with Brain Dead Disorder (BDD) somehow think 0% of a loaf is better than 90% of a loaf.

I did not anticipate writing two posts back to back about BDD. The first was about Brain Dead Unions In California, less than 12 hours ago,

If another case breaks out tomorrow, the center for disease control may need to investigate. BDD might be caused by a mutation of the highly contagious Fiscal Insanity Virus that is rapidly spreading the globe.

By Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Mike Shedlock / Mish is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management . Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction.

Visit Sitka Pacific's Account Management Page to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

I do weekly podcasts every Thursday on HoweStreet and a brief 7 minute segment on Saturday on CKNW AM 980 in Vancouver.

When not writing about stocks or the economy I spends a great deal of time on photography and in the garden. I have over 80 magazine and book cover credits. Some of my Wisconsin and gardening images can be seen at MichaelShedlock.com .

© 2009 Mike Shedlock, All Rights Reserved

Mike Shedlock Archive

© 2005-2022 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication.


Post Comment

Only logged in users are allowed to post comments. Register/ Log in