Guild Battle in San Francisco Could Mean Union Growth

As the Denver-based MediaNews company moves to consolidate newsroom operations for papers it owns in the San Francisco area, members of TNG-CWA will be working alongside non-union members.

MediaNews is seizing that as an opportunity to try to get rid of the union. The Newspaper Guild says it's a chance for growth.

"The consolidation of the Alameda Newspaper Group and the Contra Costa Times presents an opportunity for the Guild to organize a long-standing non-union workforce at the Times and gives us an unprecedented opportunity to shape the future of journalism in the Bay Area," TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said.

The Northern California Media Guild-CWA represents about 130 workers at the five-paper Alameda group, which includes the Oakland Tribune. Because the non-union Contra Costa Times and other smaller newspapers included in the merger have 160 workers, MediaNews is claiming that the Guild no longer has a majority.

This week, MediaNews withdrew recognition of the Guild, a move that immediately led the union to file an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. In a letter to the company attorney who announced the decision, union representative Carl Hall called it a "grave error"

"Your citing of numbers and percentages doesn't mask what I consider to be a blatant attempt to destroy a 20-year tradition of progressive labor relations in the East Bay news industry," Hall wrote. "Given the challenges our business faces, it's unfortunate the company is pursuing this losing strategy rather than the pattern of good faith bargaining we have tried so hard to build."

So far, only a few employees have been moved to new locations and no changes in wages, benefits or other contract terms have been made. Before MediaNews withdrew the Guild's recognition, the union was preparing to bargain over any changes in working conditions as a result of the consolidation and submitted a lengthy request for information about the company's plans. Whether MediaNews will comply isn't clear, but union leaders are prepared for a fight.

Guild members throughout the region and members at MediaNews nationwide wore red shirts on Aug. 13 to show their support for the union. This weekend, Foley will be on hand in the Bay Area for a news conference and organizer training.