Times Square
Thomson Reuters wins $20.8 million New York tax breaks case
Tuesday 03 August 2010
New York City's Industrial Development Agency (NYCIDA) on Tuesday approved Thomson Reuters' application to transfer up to $20.8 million in unused city and state sales tax subsidies from its 3 Times Square headquarters to seven other properties in Manhattan.
The application had been opposed by the Newspaper Guild of New York which is in a contract dispute with the company. The previous contract expired in February 2009 and in January 2010 Thomson Reuters declared an impasse in negotiations and imposed new work rules that the union said were aimed at eliminating the Guild as the employees' representative.
The union, which represents 420 reporters, editors and technical workers at Thomson Reuters, had sought to persuade city officials to delay the tax breaks until the company explained its job creation record and cleared alleged labor violations.
The Industrial Development Agency is the city agency in charge of approving discretionary tax subsidies to local businesses. Under a new NYCIDA deal, Thomson Reuters must increase its base employment commitment from the current 1,800 jobs to 3,744 and grow its overall headcount in the city above 4,210 to access all of the tax breaks.
The approval is also contingent upon Thomson Reuters resolving eight outstanding charges of unfair labor practices – some of which deal with the contract negotiations – pending before the National Labor Relations Board, failing which the company would lose the subsidies, a spokeswoman for the city's Economic Development Corporation said.
Subsidies totalling $28 million were originally agreed in 1998 for construction of the 3 Times Square tower with Reuters as the anchor tenant. Construction of the 30-storey building on Seventh Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets was completed in 2001. Under the agreement Reuters committed to remain at the location – known as 3XSQ – to 2021, retain its 1,800 employees in the city and add another 2,348 jobs. But the promised jobs did not materialise, leading to Reuters paying back $330,000 and forfeiting $1.7 million in sales tax breaks. Some $20 million in tax credits were not used.
At a public hearing last week the Guild's parent union, the Communication Workers of America, argued that Thomson Reuters had failed to meet the standards of good corporate citizenship in its treatment of Guild-represented employees. It said that instead of adding jobs, Thomson Reuters’ track record was cutting jobs, including transferring work to Bangalore and Canada.
Thomson Reuters marketing president for the Americas Chris Perry said the new deal was needed to "get the commitment of the merged company to stay in New York City”. He added: "We have several unused facilities that include Stamford, Connecticut, Hauppauge, New York, Nutley, New Jersey, and Jersey City, all of which are available to look at as options." Failure to approve the subsidy "will cause us to re-look at our real estate strategy", Perry said.
Chief executive Tom Glocer, in a letter to New York City’s public advocate Bill de Blasio, said the Guild had failed to make a substantive counterproposal after Thomson Reuters made a proposal to reconcile a year ago. He said the Guild “never made a proposal for wages and benefits, two of the core issues of the negotiations,” and that the NYCIDA was not the right department to handle labor disputes. Glocer said the company remained positive and hopeful of reconciliation with the Guild.
● SOURCE Crain's New York Business | IDA Report
The application had been opposed by the Newspaper Guild of New York which is in a contract dispute with the company. The previous contract expired in February 2009 and in January 2010 Thomson Reuters declared an impasse in negotiations and imposed new work rules that the union said were aimed at eliminating the Guild as the employees' representative.
The union, which represents 420 reporters, editors and technical workers at Thomson Reuters, had sought to persuade city officials to delay the tax breaks until the company explained its job creation record and cleared alleged labor violations.
The Industrial Development Agency is the city agency in charge of approving discretionary tax subsidies to local businesses. Under a new NYCIDA deal, Thomson Reuters must increase its base employment commitment from the current 1,800 jobs to 3,744 and grow its overall headcount in the city above 4,210 to access all of the tax breaks.
The approval is also contingent upon Thomson Reuters resolving eight outstanding charges of unfair labor practices – some of which deal with the contract negotiations – pending before the National Labor Relations Board, failing which the company would lose the subsidies, a spokeswoman for the city's Economic Development Corporation said.
Subsidies totalling $28 million were originally agreed in 1998 for construction of the 3 Times Square tower with Reuters as the anchor tenant. Construction of the 30-storey building on Seventh Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Streets was completed in 2001. Under the agreement Reuters committed to remain at the location – known as 3XSQ – to 2021, retain its 1,800 employees in the city and add another 2,348 jobs. But the promised jobs did not materialise, leading to Reuters paying back $330,000 and forfeiting $1.7 million in sales tax breaks. Some $20 million in tax credits were not used.
At a public hearing last week the Guild's parent union, the Communication Workers of America, argued that Thomson Reuters had failed to meet the standards of good corporate citizenship in its treatment of Guild-represented employees. It said that instead of adding jobs, Thomson Reuters’ track record was cutting jobs, including transferring work to Bangalore and Canada.
Thomson Reuters marketing president for the Americas Chris Perry said the new deal was needed to "get the commitment of the merged company to stay in New York City”. He added: "We have several unused facilities that include Stamford, Connecticut, Hauppauge, New York, Nutley, New Jersey, and Jersey City, all of which are available to look at as options." Failure to approve the subsidy "will cause us to re-look at our real estate strategy", Perry said.
Chief executive Tom Glocer, in a letter to New York City’s public advocate Bill de Blasio, said the Guild had failed to make a substantive counterproposal after Thomson Reuters made a proposal to reconcile a year ago. He said the Guild “never made a proposal for wages and benefits, two of the core issues of the negotiations,” and that the NYCIDA was not the right department to handle labor disputes. Glocer said the company remained positive and hopeful of reconciliation with the Guild.
● SOURCE Crain's New York Business | IDA Report
NY Guild invokes Bloomberg in TR contract dispute
Monday 12 July 2010
The Newspaper Guild of New York, which represents some Thomson Reuters employees, has recorded a radio spot to be aired on stations WINS and WCBS AM asking listeners to complain to Bloomberg, founder and owner of Thomson Reuters' main rival financial information business.
The 30-second spot says: "Media giant Thomson Reuters was supposed to create hundreds of new jobs to get $26 million dollars in New York tax breaks. But now the company is cutting pay and benefits for hundreds of its employees." It asks why a foreign company should get tax breaks in tough times and says voters ought to call the mayor's office to protest.
The union says Thomson Reuters has asked New York City’s Independent Development Agency to divert an unspecified, unused portion of the $26 million it received in 1998 to seven leased Manhattan locations. The tax breaks were given to Reuters to persuade it to build its US headquarters at 3 Times Square ten years before the 2008 takeover by Thomson and were intended to spur job creation. The Guild lists ten reasons why the company’s request should be denied.
Among those reasons are that the company does not need the money. "Unlike New York City and State right now, Thomson Reuters is a healthy, profitable company."
Also, says the union, Reuters has moved hundreds of jobs out of the city to other US and Canadian locations and covers Wall Street from Bangalore, India. Instead of beefing up its New York-based financial reporting team, says the Guild, the company created more than 100 reporting jobs in Bangalore where it has said wages are one-fourth to one-sixth of those in New York. Most of the Bangalore journalists report on US-based companies and, recently, US commodity markets, the Guild said.
Guild president Bill O’Meara said the purpose of the tax subsidies was to encourage good employers to stay in New York and provide good jobs for the people who live there. “By cutting the compensation of our members and shipping good jobs out of the city, the company has been anything but a good employer deserving of scarce public resources at this difficult economic time.”
Earlier this year the union filed a complaint with the US National Labor Relations Board accusing Thomson Reuters of planning to cut wages of reporters and other employees by an average of 10 per cent this year without Guild consent. Thomson Reuters disputed the figure, saying it was guaranteeing a 0.5 per cent increase for the 400-plus US journalists represented by the union at Reuters News. Some would get bigger raises.
The New York Daily News on Monday quoted Thomson Reuters spokeswoman Courtney Dolan saying: “Since October 2008 the Newspaper Guild of NY, which represents approximately 440 employees out of more than 3,700 Thomson Reuters employees in NYC, has refused to put a single, comprehensive offer on the table. As a result, Reuters declared an impasse in January 2010 in accordance with applicable law. Reuters stands behind its position and is committed to moving the organization forward. We look forward to the day when the Guild directs its efforts to returning to the bargaining table with a meaningful counterproposal to our best offer instead of creating misleading videos and radio ads.“
● SOURCE New York Daily News | Reuters Exposed | AUDIO
Thomson Reuters audits global food operations, says New York now safe
Wednesday 20 January 2010
Thomson Reuters is auditing food operations at its offices around the world following citations for hygiene violations at its global headquarters in New York.
The cafeteria at 3 Times Square is now safe, according to an internal memo to employees from the internal communications team. The company is monitoring the situation, however.
Media columnist Jeff Bercovici, who broke the original story last week, quoted the internal memo thus on the website Daily Finance: “You may have seen an article called ‘The Dirtiest, and Cleanest, Cafeterias in the Media Business’ that has been circulating on the Internet the past few days. Among its comments on various cafeterias, the article references a November 2009 NYC Health Department inspection of the 3 Times Square cafeteria which cited concerns related to equipment maintenance and food handling. Since that inspection, Aramark -- the company which operates the cafeteria -- has strengthened its processes focused on food handling and equipment. The cafeteria passed a subsequent inspection in December. Aramark has released a statement describing the actions it has taken (see below) and states full confidence in the safety and cleanliness of the food service operations at 3 Times Square.”
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had cited failure to vermin-proof the facility at 3 Times Square, “potential contamination sources, and, Other General Violation”. It awarded the cafeteria 32 violation points, mostly concerning food temperature and operating conditions. The executive dining room at 3 Times Square was cited for eight violations.
The internal memo added: “To further support ongoing compliance with standards, Thomson Reuters Facilities group is conducting a close review of Aramark's quarterly internal health inspection reports, annual Health Department inspections, the inventory and maintenance records of cafeteria equipment and the overall state of the cafeteria. We are also conducting audits of other food service operations serving our offices around the globe to ensure that our people have access to healthy food prepared according to strict standards.”
The Aramark statement said: "The circumstances that led to this situation are not reflective of our high standards. We take these matters very seriously and immediately took corrective action to address the situation.
"On November 11, the NYC Board of Health performed a routine inspection of the kitchen and found violations.
"We immediately developed and implemented a plan to take corrective action, which included personnel changes, refreshed employee training, and a full implementation of our sanitation and food safety procedures.
"On December 29, 2009, the NYC Board of Health returned to the kitchen and found the corrective action taken to be effective and the kitchen passed its reinspection.
"Our senior leadership team continues to monitor this location closely to ensure that this remains a clean, safe, and high-quality dining establishment."
● SOURCE Daily Finance
The cafeteria at 3 Times Square is now safe, according to an internal memo to employees from the internal communications team. The company is monitoring the situation, however.
Media columnist Jeff Bercovici, who broke the original story last week, quoted the internal memo thus on the website Daily Finance: “You may have seen an article called ‘The Dirtiest, and Cleanest, Cafeterias in the Media Business’ that has been circulating on the Internet the past few days. Among its comments on various cafeterias, the article references a November 2009 NYC Health Department inspection of the 3 Times Square cafeteria which cited concerns related to equipment maintenance and food handling. Since that inspection, Aramark -- the company which operates the cafeteria -- has strengthened its processes focused on food handling and equipment. The cafeteria passed a subsequent inspection in December. Aramark has released a statement describing the actions it has taken (see below) and states full confidence in the safety and cleanliness of the food service operations at 3 Times Square.”
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene had cited failure to vermin-proof the facility at 3 Times Square, “potential contamination sources, and, Other General Violation”. It awarded the cafeteria 32 violation points, mostly concerning food temperature and operating conditions. The executive dining room at 3 Times Square was cited for eight violations.
The internal memo added: “To further support ongoing compliance with standards, Thomson Reuters Facilities group is conducting a close review of Aramark's quarterly internal health inspection reports, annual Health Department inspections, the inventory and maintenance records of cafeteria equipment and the overall state of the cafeteria. We are also conducting audits of other food service operations serving our offices around the globe to ensure that our people have access to healthy food prepared according to strict standards.”
The Aramark statement said: "The circumstances that led to this situation are not reflective of our high standards. We take these matters very seriously and immediately took corrective action to address the situation.
"On November 11, the NYC Board of Health performed a routine inspection of the kitchen and found violations.
"We immediately developed and implemented a plan to take corrective action, which included personnel changes, refreshed employee training, and a full implementation of our sanitation and food safety procedures.
"On December 29, 2009, the NYC Board of Health returned to the kitchen and found the corrective action taken to be effective and the kitchen passed its reinspection.
"Our senior leadership team continues to monitor this location closely to ensure that this remains a clean, safe, and high-quality dining establishment."
● SOURCE Daily Finance
Reuters cited for dirtiest media cafeteria in New York
Thursday 14 January 2010
Reuters has the dirtiest media cafeteria in New York, according to recent inspections by the city’s health department.
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene cited failure to vermin-proof the facility at 3 Times Square, “potential contamination sources, and, Other General Violation”.
It awarded the cafeteria 32 violation points, mostly concerning food temperature and operating conditions. A score of 27 or less is needed for a restaurant to pass the inspection. The average violation point total for all New York City restaurants on their most recent inspection is 14.
The health department said “the Notice of Violation issued for this inspection was resolved by a hearing, or a pleading of guilt and a fine payment, or a default judgement”.
The executive dining room at 3 Times Square – Thomson Reuters’ global headquarters – was cited for eight violations noticed on 30 November.
New York Magazine, under the headline “Never Accept an Invitation to Lunch at the Reuters Cafeteria”, said that after The New York Times shut down its cafeteria because of a gastro-intestinal outbreak last year, the website Daily Finance looked at the rest of the media cafeterias in the city.
The cleanest media cafeterias belong to Google, which earned five points from inspectors, “while ever punctilious Bloomberg managed a sterling four points – surely a relief to employees there, who are strongly encouraged never to leave the building”, media columnist Jeff Bercovici wrote on Daily Finance.
● SOURCE New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene | Daily Finance | New York Magazine | The New York Observer
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene cited failure to vermin-proof the facility at 3 Times Square, “potential contamination sources, and, Other General Violation”.
It awarded the cafeteria 32 violation points, mostly concerning food temperature and operating conditions. A score of 27 or less is needed for a restaurant to pass the inspection. The average violation point total for all New York City restaurants on their most recent inspection is 14.
The health department said “the Notice of Violation issued for this inspection was resolved by a hearing, or a pleading of guilt and a fine payment, or a default judgement”.
The executive dining room at 3 Times Square – Thomson Reuters’ global headquarters – was cited for eight violations noticed on 30 November.
New York Magazine, under the headline “Never Accept an Invitation to Lunch at the Reuters Cafeteria”, said that after The New York Times shut down its cafeteria because of a gastro-intestinal outbreak last year, the website Daily Finance looked at the rest of the media cafeterias in the city.
The cleanest media cafeterias belong to Google, which earned five points from inspectors, “while ever punctilious Bloomberg managed a sterling four points – surely a relief to employees there, who are strongly encouraged never to leave the building”, media columnist Jeff Bercovici wrote on Daily Finance.
● SOURCE New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene | Daily Finance | New York Magazine | The New York Observer
