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Decision a Setback for Detroit Newspaper Workers
Detroit’s locked-out newspaper workers marked five years on the picket lines in July while coping with a severe blow from three federal judges, who overturned all unfair labor practice decisions against the papers’ management.
“This decision is an attack,” said Lou Mleczko, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 22. “It’s an ideological attack on the National Labor Relations Board and the unions, because it ignores and reverses five years of case law decided by NLRB judges, regional legal staff and a bipartisan, full board in Washington, D.C.”
The council of unions at the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, including the Guild, Teamsters, Graphic Communications and Typographical Union, are discussing options for an appeal.
The decision was made by three of the 11 members of the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. In overturning the ULPs, the judges also reversed rulings that ordered the two newspapers and their joint operating company to reinstate locked-out workers with back pay and benefits.
Newspaper Guild President Linda Foley called the ruling “a travesty of justice.”
“The NLRB thoroughly investigated this case and gave a well-reasoned opinion and that’s why courts generally defer to federal agencies,” Foley said. “In this case, the three-judge Republican panel gave no deference to the NLRB.”
Nearly 2,500 Detroit newspaper workers went on strike July 13, 1995. Marking the fifth anniversary last month, workers took part in rallies, a relay run, an interfaith service, a picnic and other gatherings.
The ULP issues that led to the walkout included a merit pay plan that the Gannett Co.-owned Detroit News enforced without bargaining, and management’s refusal to provide adequate information about a proposal to exclude certain “professional” workers from overtime pay.
Twenty months into the strike, the unions made an unconditional offer to return to work but were locked out. More than 500 workers are still locked out. Only a handful of employees was rehired while Gannett and Knight-Ridder Inc., owner of the Free-Press, appealed the decisions against them.
Mleczko said the three judges were “openly hostile” to the newspaper unions at the hearing in Washington in May. Still, the unions didn’t expect the harsh decision. “The legal consensus was that it would probably be remanded to the NLRB for further analysis,” he said.
The decision was handed down the morning of July 7, but Mleczko said the court “didn’t even give us the courtesy of a phone call or letter.” The union found out when two members who had been rehired by the papers called after hearing rumors about the ruling at work.
At a news conference, union leaders asked readers and advertisers to continue to boycott the papers. “The council of unions remains firm in its resolve to protect the jobs of its members and bargain fair union contracts with these papers,” Mleczko said.
Songwriter and locked-out Free Press reporter Stephen Jones has released a 12-track CD of songs inspired by the five-year labor struggle. To order a recording, send a check or money order for $17 to: One More Day, Gate 3 Music, 231 Eastlawn Ave., Detroit, MI 48215. All proceeds benefit the Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions.
“This decision is an attack,” said Lou Mleczko, president of The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 22. “It’s an ideological attack on the National Labor Relations Board and the unions, because it ignores and reverses five years of case law decided by NLRB judges, regional legal staff and a bipartisan, full board in Washington, D.C.”
The council of unions at the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press, including the Guild, Teamsters, Graphic Communications and Typographical Union, are discussing options for an appeal.
The decision was made by three of the 11 members of the D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. In overturning the ULPs, the judges also reversed rulings that ordered the two newspapers and their joint operating company to reinstate locked-out workers with back pay and benefits.
Newspaper Guild President Linda Foley called the ruling “a travesty of justice.”
“The NLRB thoroughly investigated this case and gave a well-reasoned opinion and that’s why courts generally defer to federal agencies,” Foley said. “In this case, the three-judge Republican panel gave no deference to the NLRB.”
Nearly 2,500 Detroit newspaper workers went on strike July 13, 1995. Marking the fifth anniversary last month, workers took part in rallies, a relay run, an interfaith service, a picnic and other gatherings.
The ULP issues that led to the walkout included a merit pay plan that the Gannett Co.-owned Detroit News enforced without bargaining, and management’s refusal to provide adequate information about a proposal to exclude certain “professional” workers from overtime pay.
Twenty months into the strike, the unions made an unconditional offer to return to work but were locked out. More than 500 workers are still locked out. Only a handful of employees was rehired while Gannett and Knight-Ridder Inc., owner of the Free-Press, appealed the decisions against them.
Mleczko said the three judges were “openly hostile” to the newspaper unions at the hearing in Washington in May. Still, the unions didn’t expect the harsh decision. “The legal consensus was that it would probably be remanded to the NLRB for further analysis,” he said.
The decision was handed down the morning of July 7, but Mleczko said the court “didn’t even give us the courtesy of a phone call or letter.” The union found out when two members who had been rehired by the papers called after hearing rumors about the ruling at work.
At a news conference, union leaders asked readers and advertisers to continue to boycott the papers. “The council of unions remains firm in its resolve to protect the jobs of its members and bargain fair union contracts with these papers,” Mleczko said.
Songwriter and locked-out Free Press reporter Stephen Jones has released a 12-track CD of songs inspired by the five-year labor struggle. To order a recording, send a check or money order for $17 to: One More Day, Gate 3 Music, 231 Eastlawn Ave., Detroit, MI 48215. All proceeds benefit the Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions.