Union News & Announcements

BOSTON (June 5, 2009) – Readers across New England who signed on to help “Save The Boston Globe” have expressed an outpouring of support for Globe workers in advance of an important contract vote. Dozens of educators, journalists and everyday Globe readers have provided testimonials supporting the Boston Globe’s mission of journalism, as well as the men and women who produce it everyday. The Boston Newspaper Guild gathered the testimonials from readers who signed a “Save the Boston Globe” petition and who were asked to share their thoughts on the Globe and its workers.

“You, the Boston Globe workers, pump the life into his paper,” said Melissa Turek of Boston. “Without you, there would not only be no paper but no heart behind the paper. … I hope the New York Times Company realizes how important you are to Bostonians everywhere.”

Over just a few days in April, more than 4,000 people signed an online petition to “Save The Boston Globe” after the New York Times Company threatened to shut the 137-year-old newspaper down. Members of the Boston Newspaper Guild are scheduled to vote on a contract offer from the Times Company on Monday, June 8.

Guild members are being asked to accept deep pay cuts and benefit reductions on a permanent basis. Members of management, however, received bonus payments in 2009 and will endure modest pay reductions only through December 31.

“The role of the Globe should be to inform the public and to a far lesser extent bring profits for the New York Times Co,” said Alexi Goranov, of the MIT Koch Institute.

“The New York Times Company should not ask Globe workers to shoulder the burden alone,” said Jeff Cruikshank, of Milton.

Dan Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild, said the words of support and encouragement reinforce the importance of the Boston Globe to life in New England and highlight the critical role of Guild members.

“We asked folks who signed our petition in April if they might offer their thoughts in support of Globe workers, and to share how the Globe impacts their lives,” Totten said. “The response has been tremendous. People care about the Boston Globe. And they care about the men and women who bring it to them every day.”

One reader, Karen Ramsey, recalled how her father was killed in the Korean War on her first birthday. Just a few days later the Globe ran a photo of her holding a picture of her father.

“That memory is one of only a few that I have with my Dad’s photograph on it,” said Ramsey. “The Globe has always been my connection to my home.”

Former Globe employees also shared memories, and expressed concern about the Times Company’s stewardship.

“I am deeply disappointed that the New York Times wants to come down so hard on the very staffers The Boston Globe needs to do its work,” said Jean Caldwell of Springfield, who for years covered Western Massachusetts as a Globe correspondent. “I have seen so many Globe staffers whose work I read and respected over the years leave because of this.”

“I remember my days of working at the Globe as the best job of my life,” said Amanda Abreu of Lowell. “The Globe is more than a newspaper. It’s a place made of family and it brings families together. This happens in a multitude of ways – just like it used to bring my family together every Sunday morning.”

“The New York Times would do well to understand what The Boston Globe means to New Englanders before again threatening to shutter it,” said former Globe editor Patty Morin Fitzgerald. The Times Company needs to “find a solution to the financial mess its management has created, through lack of foresight, without unfairly penalizing its hard-working news gatherers,” she added.

Totten noted that Monday’s vote comes on the heels of yet another Globe triumph in journalism: the uncovering of alleged corruption on Beacon Hill and the indictment of a former House speaker and several associates. A series of Globe stories broke open that investigation – a pattern that is long-familiar to Globe readers.

“Publishing the Globe and Boston.com is a huge team effort,” Totten said. “But we are reminded over and over, with this simply being the latest example, that Boston Newspaper Guild journalists are intensely committed to serving the public interest.”

That public service, according to readers and other supporters, has admirably continued in the face of hugely challenging conditions for Guild journalists.

“My heart goes out to The Globe employees who, in the face of painful layoffs, buyouts and salary reductions, have maintained their professionalism and pride in turning out what is still a first-rate paper,” said Terry Ann Knopf, of Brookline.

“The New York Times has a corporate responsibility to the people of Boston and New England to do the right thing and see that the Globe survives through this technological watershed,” said John Fleming, of New London, Connecticut. “Their reputation and credibility is at stake.”

To view more testimonials in support of the Boston Globe and its workers, visit www.bgol.org.

About the Boston Newspaper Guild
The Boston Newspaper Guild (BNG -TNG/CWA local 31245) is the employee union for the Boston Globe newspaper. We proudly represent more than 700 employees including reporters, editors, page designers, advertising salespeople and advertising sales support persons, ad-designers, circulation managers, accountants, marketers and information technology specialists, security guards, shippers/receivers, nurses, secretaries, and more. Our members produce Pulitzer Prize-winning, nationally-acclaimed work for the daily and Sunday Boston Globe Newspaper. We are affiliated nationally with The Newspaper Guild (TNG) and the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

June 7, 2009