• New York Post, Tuesday, May 5, 2009 3:44 PM

The Boston Globe and its largest employees union finished all-night talks without a deal Monday, but more talks are planed later this week. The Globe's owner, The New York Times Co., has threatened to close the 137-year-old newspaper unless its unions agreed to $20 million in cuts to annual expenses by midnight Sunday. The company has reached agreements with six unions, including those that represent drivers, mailers and pressmen.

That leaves the Boston Newspaper Guild, which represents about 700 editorial, advertising and business employees. The Guild says it has proposed more than the $10 million in labor costs cuts the Times Co. has sought from it. But a key hang-up appears to be lifetime job guarantees, which give strong protections from layoffs, though staffers can still be fired for cause. The Times Co. wants to eliminate the guarantees.

About 190 Guild members have the lifetime guarantees. Some workers believe eliminating the guarantees would allow the Times Co. to focus layoffs on older, higher-paid employees.

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