Union News & Announcements

TO: Gregory Thornton, Senior Vice President, Employee Relations

FROM: Daniel Totten, President BNG

RE: Employee Survey

The Boston Newspaper Guild members are disappointed by the Boston Globe’s “Employee Survey”. Once again, the Globe simply does not “get it”.

While the Globe continues to outsource, subcontract and layoff employees who are the lifeblood of the Globe, how do you think those remaining will feel about completing a survey when they’ve been met by hostility, miscommunication, lack of communication, disrespect, mismanagement and misdirection on a daily basis?

The use of an outside consulting firm to conduct such a survey is a waste of valuable time, money and resources…resources that could have kept some human beings employed at the Globe.

Actions speak louder than words. If NYT/Globe were to actually follow their own “Rules of the Road”, further insult to employees by use of surveys would not happen.

Good, strong companies have leaders who foster long lost items such as trust, loyalty, honesty and appreciation. To request completion of the “Employee Survey” accomplishes none of these severely lacking, much needed traits at NYT/Globe.

It’s insulting and yet saddening to think management is so far removed from the reality of internal and external issues that it needs a survey of employees to find out what’s wrong.

Perhaps the “initiator” of this survey might be better served by being outsourced to Bangalore themselves.

November 28, 2007