June 10 (Bloomberg) -- New York Times Co. Chairman Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said the Boston Globe “cannot survive” without a 23 percent pay cut for members of its largest union after they voted to reject a new contract.

Times Co. will meet with the Boston Newspaper Guild next week and said it is at an “impasse” with members following the June 8 vote. The publisher plans to slash pay on June 14 to help save $10 million annually.

“We are now left with no alternative other than to proceed with the wage reduction,” Sulzberger said in a letter to the Guild today. “Without that, the Globe will be unable to effectuate the savings already ratified by its other unions, in which case it simply cannot survive.”

The Guild yesterday said it filed a formal complaint with the National Labor Relations Board and was granted a hearing for June 16, a day after it’s to meet with Times Co. officials. Members rejected a contract June 8 that would cut wages 8.4 percent and reduce other benefits.

“The parties have bargained over and are at impasse concerning the Globe’s alternative wage proposal,” said Robert Powers, a Globe spokesman, in a statement. The Globe won’t “withdraw its notice of implementation” of the wage cut.

Times Co. last month threatened to close the 137-year-old newspaper if Guild members didn’t agree to concessions equal to half of a target of $20 million in savings from the Globe’s unions. The publisher said the Globe will lose $85 million this year as circulation and advertising sales plunge.

‘Fair and Livable’

The Guild “will take all necessary steps to pursue and reach a fair and livable agreement with the New York Times,” President Dan Totten said in a statement yesterday. He said he would pursue “any legal means necessary” to prevent wage cuts of 23 percent for the union’s nearly 700 members.

Guild members voted 277 to 265 against the proposal, which included an end to lifetime contracts for some members, as well more days of unpaid leave.

Totten asked Times Co. to allow an independent mediator to oversee any further talks. Powers didn’t say whether the publisher would grant the request.

Times Co. said revenue at its New England Media Group, which includes the Globe, Worcester Telegram & Gazette and their Web sites, fell 21 percent in the first quarter, compared with a 19 percent decline companywide.

New York Times fell 16 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $6.12 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have declined 17 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Bensinger in New York at gbensinger1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 10, 2009 17:39 EDT