May 4, 2009: Boston Globe avoids shutdown, for now

The Boston Globe said it reached agreements with six of seven unions representing its workers and will not file a 60-day shutdown notice.
The New York Times Co. had threatened to close the paper unless unions agreed to $20 million in cuts.
In a statement released earlier today, The Globe said it had successfully renegotiated contracts with the drivers, mailers, press operators, electricians, machinists and technical services group.
But the paper said it still hadn’t been able to reach an agreement with the Newspaper Guild, which represents some 700 editorial, advertising and business employees.
“We are very pleased to have reached agreements with six of the seven unions that were involved in recent negotiations,” The Globe said in a statement. “As a result of these agreements, which are subject to ratification by union members, we expect to achieve both the workplace flexibility and the financial savings that we sought from these unions.”
The Globe said it will now pursue other options with the Guild “to achieve as quickly as possible the workplace flexibility and remaining cost-savings we need to put The Globe on sound financial footing.”