Brandon

Friday, April 10, 2009

Pro Union New York Times Squeezes Newspaper Unions

NY Times is demanding $20 million in concessions from Boston unions or will close the Boston Globe!

By now, everyone knows the Old Gray Lady is in deep financial trouble and may not survive much longer as the Democrat Party's chief media ally. Boo hoo! Mark Bowden, writing at Vanity Fair has a thorough, historical review of the paper if you are interested.

But the real story here is the squeeze the NY Times is putting on workers at it's Boston newspaper: The Boston Globe. Threatening to close the paper in 30 days if the unions which represent workers at the facility do not agree to draconian cuts in wages, health benefits and 401k retirement accounts. Hundreds of jobs are at stake.

Interesting that in the three recent editorials the NY Times published regarding the auto manufacturers bailout (1,2,3) the emphasis was almost entirely focused on management, with the Times Editorial Board in full support of forcing General Motor's CEO Rick Wagoner to resign. Boston workers have wondered when NYTimes executives will face similar accountability?

NY Times Hypocrisy on the Benefits of Organized Labor

Let's not forget that the Times has been a huge backer of Card Check legislation which would make it much easier for union organizers to intimidate workers and eliminate the secret ballot to decide whether workplaces should be unionized.

In the December 2008 editorial the Times praised unions for protecting wages and benefits and decreasing the "unjustifiable disparities between executive pay and rank-and-file pay." They went on to warn that "In the Clinton era, financial issues routinely trumped labor concerns. If Mr. Obama’s campaign promises are to be kept, that mindset cannot prevail again."

That was then, this is now. And don't hold your breathe waiting for New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. to resign. Like everything else in liberal land, what's good for others like the CEO at GM will never be applied to an icon of the left.

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