August 16, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact The Boston Newspaper Guild:
BostonNewspaperGuildCWA@gmail.com
U.S. Senator Warren and Congressional members Clark and McGovern rebuke anti-union tactics by Boston Globe executives
Warren, McGovern, Clark join call for John Henry and Linda Pizzuti Henry to settle simmering labor dispute with employees
BOSTON – Hundreds of employees at The Boston Globe, who are crying foul over their treatment by billionaire owners John Henry and Linda Pizzuti Henry, are receiving a major boost in their efforts to be treated fairly at New England’s largest newspaper and online news outlet.
Offering their support for both the importance of a free press and basic fairness for the workers who help to write, edit, and produce The Boston Globe, three leading elected officials joined a growing wave of public support. In separate video statements, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Congressman Jim McGovern, and Congresswoman Katherine Clark have recently voiced solidarity for the nearly 300 Globe workers who say executives are seeking contract language that could outsource their jobs and livelihoods.
Keeping the news local has become a key theme of the workers’ message in recent weeks as Henry and Pizzuti Henry continue to push terms that could lead to the majority of The Boston Globe’s reporting and editing being done outside New England.
Workers say it’s unclear if Henry and Pizzuti Henry are pushing the outsourcing language as a matter of greed, control, or simply wanting to prime the publication for a future sale to new owners.
Globe employees have worked without a contract and its protections for more than 900 days as the paper’s executives deployed former Trump campaign law firm Jones Day to force toxic, anti-union proposals on Globe workers that strip them of essential workplace rights. While draining Globe resources on the high-priced law firm, Globe executives have continued to offer shortsighted, out-of-touch proposals.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren challenged Globe executives to settle the long-simmering dispute in a recent message.
“I urge the Boston Globe management to settle a fair contract with workplace protections these journalists and staff deserve,” Warren said, later adding, “I’m with these workers all the way.”
Congresswoman Katherine Clark echoed the Senator’s sentiment in a separate message.
“Journalists at the Globe and STAT News Service and the hardworking people that help deliver the news to our front stoops and inboxes each morning deserve dignity and respect on the job,” Clark said. “They deserve better pay and job security. They deserve an equitable contract.”
In a straw poll held earlier this year, an overwhelming majority of Globe Guild employees voted to support strike authorization powers for Guild leadership should negotiations fail. As negotiations head toward the three-year mark, worker patience is wearing thin, and employees are ready to act.
Adding his support, Congressman Jim McGovern made clear that it’s high time for Globe executives to reach a long-overdue agreement with its award-winning staff and to reach it now.
“Here’s the bottom line: You all deserve better,” McGovern said. “You deserve a fair contract that recognizes the invaluable — literally invaluable — service that you provide to our democracy. You deserve job security and workplace protections that reflect the important work that you do.”
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The Boston Newsguild (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.