NYC approves tax breaks for Thomson Reuters

Daniel Massey of Crain’s New York writes Tuesday that the New York City industrial development agency has approved a tax break of more than $20 million for Thomson Reuters.

Massey writes, “The approval dealt a blow to the Newspaper Guild of New York, which is in a contract dispute with Thomson Reuters and had mobilized elected officials to pressure the Bloomberg administration to table the application.

“Under the new deal, Thomson Reuters will have to increase its base employment commitment from its current 1,800 jobs to 3,744, and then 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 outstanding unfair labor practice charges pending before the National Labor Relations Board, some of which relate to the contract dispute. Should the company not resolve the charges, it would lose the subsidies, a spokeswoman for the city’s Economic Development Corp. said. City officials believe it is the first time resolution of a labor conflict was officially tied to an Industrial Development Agency approval.”