Boston Globe employees prevail in effort to secure new labor contract

BOSTON – Boston Globe employees have prevailed in their effort to secure a new labor contract. The membership of the Boston Newspaper Guild concluded their week-long ratification vote on Friday evening, announcing that the majority of members voted in favor of a new deal that keeps important bumpers on outsourcing and that preserves essential workplace protections.

The contract covers staff members at The Boston Globe, Boston.com, and STAT News service. The contract spans three years and includes an immediate 3% raise and a $1,000 contract-signing bonus for Boston Newspaper Guild members. In the second and third years of the agreement, workers will receive 2% raises.

In the final stages of protracted negotiations, Globe employees went public with the proposals put forth by executives that could have outsourced dozens of local Boston Globe jobs to other states.

Faced with growing public backlash after a series of worker actions, Globe executives abandoned their controversial outsourcing proposals which paved the way for the new contract with the largest unionized portion of The Globe workforce. The Boston Newspaper Guild represents more than 300 employees within Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC.

“This agreement is a big win for journalists, Guild members, and New England readers,” said Scott Steeves, president of BNG. “We rejected Globe management’s short-sighted proposals and stuck together to safeguard journalistic integrity and workplace protections.”

For more than three years Globe journalists have sounded the alarm on the damage executives’ proposals would have done to the fabric of The Globe, including through outreach to elected leaders, Globe readers, and the general public about owners’ misguided outsourcing proposals. 

Guild members leafleted outside of Fenway Park, called out Linda Pizzuti Henry at an event for women news leaders, and garnered support from U.S. representatives Katherine Clark and Jim McGovern, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, and U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey. The senators recently made headlines for their decision to drop out from the 2021 Globe Summit, in solidarity with BNG.

In addition to protecting quality journalism, Globe journalists also notched other key victories, including a new parental-leave policy. 

The contract also protects overtime pay, right to arbitration, and just cause provisions, all of which were under threat. It also provides successorship provisions should the Henrys sell the company to outside owners, protecting employees under a leadership change. 

After announcing the win, journalists thanked readers and lawmakers for their support, without which it wouldn’t have been possible.

“The past three years have been tough—but our readers stuck with us,” BNG Secretary Kevin Slane shared. “We’re incredibly grateful to our readers for supporting us through these negotiations, and we look forward to continuing the same high-quality work within this new contractual agreement.” 

The contract will go into effect in November and remain in effect for three years. The agreement will be the first contract Globe employees have worked under since December 2018.

ABOUT THE BOSTON NEWSPAPER GUILD

The Boston Newspaper Guild (BNG) represents more than 300 Boston Globe employees, including reporters, editors, page designers, photographers, web producers, advertising salespeople, and advertising sales support persons, ad-designers, circulation managers, accountants, marketers, and information technology specialists, shippers/receivers, and secretaries. For decades, its members have produced Pulitzer Prize-winning, nationally-acclaimed work, as well as safeguarding the rights and benefits of Globe employees.