New York Times threatens to shut Boston Globe

BOSTON (Reuters) - The New York Times Co has threatened to shut The Boston Globe unless the newspaper’s unions agree to $20 million in concessions, The Boston Globe reported, quoting union leaders.

The union officials said executives from the Times and the Globe made the demands on Thursday morning in a meeting with leaders of the newspaper’s 13 unions, the Globe reported.

“Management told union leaders Thursday that the Globe will lose $85 million in 2009, unless serious cutbacks are made, according to a Globe employee briefed on the discussions,” the Globe report said. That compares with an estimated $50 million loss last year, the newspaper quoted the employee as saying.