The Globe and Mail’s union has reached a deal with the Toronto newspaper. “Ratification in the coming days,” Stuart Laidlaw, a representative for the union Unifor, told Poynter in an email. Laidlaw said no details would be released until the ratification.
Vanessa Lu, a business reporter with the Toronto Star, wrote about the deal on Wednesday afternoon.
“There is a tentative agreement,” said Shawn McCarthy, a reporter who speaks on behalf of the unionized staff, in an email. “No details yet and we still have to vote.”
The union’s bargaining committee is unanimously recommending the tentative deal. A ratification vote will likely be called for Thursday and the strike deadline has been suspended until further notice
Reporters with the Globe and Mail are also tweeting that a deal has been reached between the union and the Globe and Mail about half an hour before the 4 p.m. strike deadline.
Globe labour update: We'll still be working at 4:01 p.m. today. Tentative deal reached. HUZZAHHHHH!!!!
— robyndoolittle (@robyndoolittle) July 9, 2014
The Globe and its union have reached a tentative deal on a new contract, averting a strike that was set for 4 p.m. today. #wheee
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) July 9, 2014
The walkout would have been a first for journalists at the Globe, Lu reported Wednesday, “as they have a strike-free record.”
The last strike at the Globe was in 1964, when composing room employees walked off the job that led to decertification of the International Typographical Union.
Last week, the union turned down the latest contract with a 92.3 percent vote against it, Lu reported.
Key issues include job security and wage cuts. One of the contentious issues on the table is a proposal from management to require some editorial staff to write “advertorial,” custom content paid for and approved by advertisers.
Poynter’s Andrew Beaujon reported on that proposal in June.
Last week, Poynter wrote about the fence that was put up around the newspaper. That fence has its own Twitter account. For now.
Sigh. Back to a vacant lot in Scarsborough with me. And then back to a vacant lot on Front Street when this eyesore gets knocked down.
— Globe Fence (@globefence) July 9, 2014
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