Didn't think it was possible, but the NYT vs. Globe battle just got worse:

Both the Guild and the Times Co. would embark on a risky path by moving from the bargaining table to the legal process, according to labor law specialists. Unfair labor practice cases hinge on questions of whether negotiations were conducted in "good faith," a term with a definition that is murky at best, said Thomas Kohler, a Boston College law professor.

According to the article, legal action doesn't protect Globe staffers from a heavy pay cut, and the Times could always follow through on its threat to shut the Globe down. So what gives? Much of the coverage leading up to today's union vote included barbed comments from Globe employees unhappy with Times management, but was this vote really decided by emotion? Is this the "I quit!" fantasy on a grand scale?