"From the moment the Times Co. purchased The Globe in 1993, it has treated New England's largest newspaper like a cheap whore"
"Guild learns details of $10m in proposed cuts; Plan calls for furloughs, eases job guarantees" by Robert Weisman, Globe Staff | May 8, 2009
.... Many reserved their anger for the Times Co. executives who had threatened to shut the paper. The company has withdrawn that threat for now, but union leaders predicted it might be renewed over the next 30 days in an effort to pressure Guild members to vote for the concessions.
Some suggested the cost concessions might just be a prelude to a sale of the newspaper or a later move to shutter it. "I think the out-of-town proprietors of this great newspaper are trying to ease their way out of town, and I have no wish to help them in any way whatsoever," said assistant night editor Jim Franklin, who plans to vote no....
Many Guild members said they were undecided on whether they would vote to ratify the proposal while others said they would vote against it or approve it only reluctantly. The ratification vote will likely be on June 8 or 9, union leaders said.
Stephen McGrory , an advertising salesman, who said he was on the fence: "If I was to vote it down, I would just do it because my heart is with the people here. If I was to vote for it, it would just be to get on with it...."
Copy editor Glenda Buell said she expected to vote against the proposal. "I see this as a slap in the face to the people who are working their fannies off to keep this place alive," she said.
Sports writer Chris Gasper, who covers the New England Patriots, said he would probably vote to accept the proposal. "If somebody put a gun to my head and I had to vote on it right now, I'd reluctantly vote yes," he said.
They have: The New York Times is a Terrorist
Several union members said the threat to impose a 23 percent cut if the plan isn't ratified was a tactic aimed at pressuring members to vote yes. "This is a 23 percent pay cut for people, many of whom are the chief breadwinners for their families," said Sean P. Murphy, a Globe reporter and editor since 1987. "What families can withstand that?"
Related: Boston Globe Executives Got Six-Figure Bonuses
Feeling a little took now, aren't you?
The proposal would also establish a joint labor-management council to review and make recommendations about the Globe's business plan, and create a profit-sharing plan that would deposit 1 percent of employees' salaries into retirement plans if the newspaper's cash operating profit exceeds $10 million a year.
Ha-ha-ha-ha! They actually think they are going to return to profitability!
Newspapers are dead, man! I'm the last frikkin' Mohican!
"Obviously, it's not a good deal," said Globe columnist Adrian Walker, one of the undecideds. "The only reason to vote it down is if we think we can get a better deal, but I don't think we're going to get a better deal. So voting it down would just be a protest."
And , of course, protests are useless, right, flacker (unless they are pro-gay or pro-illegals)?
Globe Magazine copy desk chief Barbara Pattison said she expected to vote for the proposal. "I'm going to vote to ratify because if we don't they'll impose a 23 percent cut."
Matt Bernstein, the letters editor for the editorial page, said he has tried to hold his head high and remember the mission of the Globe when he goes to work during this stressful time. "We work at a newspaper, and we're all walking around like a dog that's been hit by a rolled-up newspaper," he said.
That's one thing you can do with the s*** sheet.
"And it's got to stop."
Okay, I'll use it for the bottom of the bird cage then.
