Boston Globe talks to avert shutdown are suspended

BOSTON -- The Boston Globe's largest union and the newspaper ended all-night contract talks without a deal Monday, but plan to be back at the bargaining table within days.

The union and management stopped negotiating at about 8 a.m. Monday and "should resume in the next day or so," said Cosmo Macero, a spokesman for the Newspaper Guild. He did not have additional information.

A Globe spokesman did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press on Monday morning.

Management and two unions representing some Globe workers reached tentative agreements on concessions Monday morning.

Mary White, president of Teamsters Local 1, which represents 245 mailers, says the union reached a tentative agreement around 4:30 a.m. It includes $5 million in concessions and changes in lifetime job guarantees. In a report on the Globe's website, White says the concessions were "necessary in closing the deal."

A union representing 210 delivery drivers also reached a tentative agreement Monday. Official Ralph Giallanella says the union agreed to about $2.5 million in concessions.

The Newspaper Guild, representing about 700 editorial, advertising and business employees, said it had proposed more than the $10 million in cuts sought by the Times Co. In a statement released two hours before the midnight deadline, the Guild said its proposed cuts called for "tremendous sacrifices, across virtually all categories of compensation and benefits."

Neither side would reveal what was bogging down the negotiations, but a key sticking point could be lifetime job guarantees.

The Times Co. has sought to eliminate lifetime guarantees, which give strong protection from layoffs. Staffers can still be let go for cause.