Washington  - The New York Times Co has threatened to shut down the Boston Globe unless the Globe's unions agree to 20 million dollars in cost-cutting measures, it was reported Saturday.

   The demands were made during a 90-minute meeting between Times and Globe executives and the newspaper's 13 unions, the Globe reported.

   The concessions include pay cuts, terminating the company's pension contributions and eliminating lifetime job guarantees, according to Daniel Totten, president of the Boston Newspaper Guild - the Globe's biggest union.

   The Globe, which began publishing in 1872, was sold to the New York Times Co in 1993.

   "We all know the newspaper industry is going through great transition and loss," said Ralph Giallanella of Teamsters Local 259, which represents about 200 drivers who deliver the newspaper.

   "The ad revenues have fallen off the cliff. Just based on everything that's going on around the country, they're serious," the Globe quoted Giallanella as saying.

   An estimated 50 full-time jobs were slashed in the Globe newsroom this week. Executives reportedly told union leaders that the Globe would lose 85 million dollars in 2009 without the hefty cutbacks. The newspaper lost 50 million dollars last year, the report said.

   Times and Globe representatives wouldn't comment on the report, which comes amid a bleak period for US newspapers, who are trying to combat the flight of readers to the internet and the recession that has severely slashed advertising revenues. Most major newspaper companies are reducing staff, eliminating bureaus and freezing pay.

   The Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its last edition on March 17, ending a 146-year run and continuing operations as a web-only publication.

   The Rocky Mountain News in Denver was shuttered in February, in January the owner of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune filed for bankruptcy and the Hearst Corporation is considering closing the San Francisco Chronicle if a buyer can't be found.

   Even the mighty New York Times was forced to sell its flagship headquarters building to maintain its cash flow in March, shortly before it announced sweeping job cuts.

   The Sun-Times Media Group Inc, owner of the Chicago Sun Times and more than 50 other US newspapers, filed for bankruptcy protection Tuesday.

   The Sun-Times was the second Chicago publishing company to seek bankruptcy protection after the Chicago Tribune Company, which publishes The Chicago Tribune and The Los Angeles Times newspapers, filed for court protection last December.