Feds dismiss charges against newsroom union

By ERIC LINDBERG — Jan. 27, 2009

Federal labor officials have dismissed five unfair labor practice charges filed by the Santa Barbara News-Press that alleged illegal boycott activity on the part of newsroom union representatives.

In dismissal notices sent to an attorney for the newspaper, officials with the National Labor Relations Board noted a lack of evidence showing that the union failed to bargain in good faith by handing out leaflets at local businesses that advertise in the News-Press, among other activity.

“The evidence failed to establish that the union engaged in unlawful bad faith bargaining at the table,” wrote James McDermott, regional director of the NLRB. “Additionally, its away-from-the-table conduct was insufficient to show that it engaged in bad faith bargaining.”

Boycotting advertisers and handing out leaflets urging customers to avoid those businesses until the newspaper reaches a fair employment agreement with the union is protected under federal law, according to the decision.

A letter sent out to neutral businesses asking that they stop advertising in the News-Press is also protected, McDermott stated. He also noted there is no evidence that union agents confronted or coerced employees or customers at a handful of local businesses.

Union officials hailed the decision, calling it a victory against the newspaper’s attempt to silence its critics and opponents.

“The union was gratified to learn of the full vindication of the wholesale dismissals,” Marty Keegan, lead union organizer, said in a news release. “It is unfortunate when a newspaper that is supposed to be in the business of searching for truth is willing to engage in a blatant smear campaign that only succeeds in diminishing itself.”

Barry Cappello, an attorney representing the News-Press, did not comment on the decision yesterday afternoon.

The battle between the union and newspaper has been ongoing since 2006, when a group of editors and writers quit in protest of what they felt was inappropriate meddling in newsroom affairs by upper management at the News-Press.

Both sides have filed numerous unfair labor practice charges, although union attorney Ira Gottlieb noted that all charges filed thus far by the newspaper have been dismissed.

“Their view of things is to hit back and make accusations,” he said. “That’s what they do. It’s not just with the union, although the union has certainly borne the brunt of it. They make accusations now and see if they can provide evidence and facts to support it later.”

Union representatives described editorials and full-page advertisements that appeared in the newspaper — which decried the boycott activity as illegal and urged readers to contact the union to complain — as filled with “falsehoods that lacked evidentiary support.”

“We have a certain right to do certain kinds of communicative activity and we stayed within the bounds of that,” Gottlieb said.

On the other hand, the newspaper has been found guilty of numerous labor law violations by an administrative law judge, including the allegedly illegal firing of eight reporters. That decision has been appealed and will be ruled on by the full NLRB.

Gottlieb said it remains unclear when that appeal will be heard, since the three-member board still only has two members.

“It’s obviously one that we’d like to see moved quickly,” he said.

Although a judge denied a temporary injunction that would allow the eight fired reporters to return to work at the newspaper in the interim, an appeal of that decision should be heard in March, he said.

Federal attorneys also plan to prosecute the News-Press on several other unfair labor practice charges this May, union officials said, including allegedly illegally firing a ninth reporter, hiring “temp” employees, discontinuing annual raises, interfering with investigative efforts and bargaining with no intent of reaching an agreement.

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