Search News
For the Media
For media inquiries, call CWA Communications at 202-434-1168 or email comms@cwa-union.org. To read about CWA Members, Leadership or Industries, visit our About page.
Church Joins USA Today Boycott to Support Detroit Workers
Detroit’s locked-out newspaper workers are getting a huge show of support from the United Methodist Church, which is calling on its 8.4 million members to boycott the Gannett-owned USA Today newspaper.
“I hope it will be the decisive factor in bringing discussions, negotiations and resolution to this troubling situation, which has lasted far too long,” Michigan United Methodist Bishop Don Ott said, quoted in the Detroit Free Press.
The Free Press, owned by Knight-Ridder Inc., and the Detroit News, owned by Gannett, have refused to rehire workers who went on strike in 1994 over the papers’ unfair labor practices. The workers, who include members of CWA Typographical Local 18 and TNG-CWA Local 22, made an offer to return to work in 1996, but the papers responded by locking them out. Nearly 600 workers are still locked out.
Since 1996, United Methodists in Michigan have urged members to boycott the Free Press and the News. The push to boycott USA Today came as church leaders were meeting in Cleveland in early May for their annual international conference.
“This is consistent with long-standing United Methodist social principles of labor relations with management and worker rights,” Ott said.
Meanwhile, three federal judges are considering whether to force the two newspapers and their joint publishing company to obey National Labor Relations Board orders to rehire all locked-out workers and pay millions in back wages.
A 90-minute hearing May 4 before the panel of appellate court judges in Washington, D.C. included sharp questioning of attorneys on both sides, Local 22 President Lou Mlezcko said.
A ruling isn’t expected for several months. Mlezcko said he can’t speculate on the outcome but was “glad to see that (the judges) were well versed on the issues in Detroit.”
The NLRB has ruled in favor of the unions on almost all ULP counts, but the papers have continually appealed the decisions and refused to reinstate workers.
“I hope it will be the decisive factor in bringing discussions, negotiations and resolution to this troubling situation, which has lasted far too long,” Michigan United Methodist Bishop Don Ott said, quoted in the Detroit Free Press.
The Free Press, owned by Knight-Ridder Inc., and the Detroit News, owned by Gannett, have refused to rehire workers who went on strike in 1994 over the papers’ unfair labor practices. The workers, who include members of CWA Typographical Local 18 and TNG-CWA Local 22, made an offer to return to work in 1996, but the papers responded by locking them out. Nearly 600 workers are still locked out.
Since 1996, United Methodists in Michigan have urged members to boycott the Free Press and the News. The push to boycott USA Today came as church leaders were meeting in Cleveland in early May for their annual international conference.
“This is consistent with long-standing United Methodist social principles of labor relations with management and worker rights,” Ott said.
Meanwhile, three federal judges are considering whether to force the two newspapers and their joint publishing company to obey National Labor Relations Board orders to rehire all locked-out workers and pay millions in back wages.
A 90-minute hearing May 4 before the panel of appellate court judges in Washington, D.C. included sharp questioning of attorneys on both sides, Local 22 President Lou Mlezcko said.
A ruling isn’t expected for several months. Mlezcko said he can’t speculate on the outcome but was “glad to see that (the judges) were well versed on the issues in Detroit.”
The NLRB has ruled in favor of the unions on almost all ULP counts, but the papers have continually appealed the decisions and refused to reinstate workers.