Shouts of ‘Shame on The New York Times’ and ‘Save The Globe’ echoed across Faneuil Hall Friday afternoon as hundreds of Boston Globe employees and readers rallied to save their paper.
The Boston Newspaper Guild, The Globe’s largest union, organized the rally to protest The New York Times Co.’s ultimatum that the paper’s unions make $20 million in concessions by May 1 or The Globe will be shut down.
The threat followed Times Co.’s forecasts for 2009, which predicted The Globe will lose $85 million by the end of this year. The Globe lost $50 million in 2008, the Globe reported April 4.
‘I do love the Globe,’Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. the chairman of the Times Co. said to the Globe April 23. ‘I actually worked there in your pressroom, when I was a college student for a couple of months. And I’m proud of what you guys have done – and are doing. I really am. You’ve got an amazing editor and great colleagues. So none of this has to do with that. OK? It’s about finding the model to sustain it. That’s what this is about.’
The rally garnered a variety of supporters, from City Council President Mike Ross (Back Bay, Fenway, Kenmore) to the artistic director of the Boston Ballet Mikko Nissinen.
Boston Newspaper Guild President Daniel Totten opened the rally by calling upon The Globe’s readers.’
‘The Boston Globe is far too important to life in New England,’ Totten said. ‘It remains in Boston, and it belongs in Boston.’
Dorothy Clark, who has been a Globe copy editor for 14 years, said she dreamed of working for The Globe while growing up.
‘Plain and simple, we need The Globe,’ Clark said. ‘When an institution has the fortitude to last that long, you don’t toss it out like old news.’
Ross also called The Globe a Boston institution, comparing it the Red Sox and the ‘golden dome’ atop the State House.
‘For 137 years, Bostonians have woken up to their coffee, their breakfasts and their newspaper,’ Ross said. ‘This is about our city.’
Veteran reporter Brian Mooney, who has worked at The Globe for 21 years, criticized Times Co. for misrepresenting the cuts their own paper had made.’
‘I guess they are making sacrifices,’ Mooney said sarcastically. ‘They lose the corporate jet, and we lose all our sick days.’
Mooney said high level management, including the chief executive and publisher, received ‘discretionary funds’ totaling 3.5% of their pay during the latest salary freeze. The information came from a proxy statement Times Co. filed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Mooney said.
Retired schoolteacher Linda Totten traveled from Quincy to attend the rally. A regular reader, Totten said Times Co. needs to pay attention to The Globe’s employees.
‘It’s disastrous to the morale of the average worker of America,’ Totten said. ‘They’re just trying to work hard and make a good paper.’
Globe Maine Sales and Travel Advertising Account Executive Daniel Waxman said the rally demonstrates that people are willing to stand against Times Co.’s ultimatum.
‘I’m here to stand up for my worker’s rights,’ Waxman said. ‘It [Times Co.] should be negotiating in good faith.’
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