Newspaper Workers March in Monterey

More than 110 Monterey County Herald employees and community supporters marched in May to call for a fair contract at the northern California newspaper. The peaceful march served to “remind the community that Knight Ridder hasn’t kept its pledge to bargain in good faith with its employees,” said Luther Jackson, executive officer of TNG-CWA Local 39098. When Knight Ridder acquired the Herald in a newspaper swap in August 1997, it fired all employees, forced them to reapply for their jobs and canceled all union contracts. Many employees have left, citing low wages, job insecurity, staffing shortages, lack of training and low morale. At the end of the march, eight labor and community leaders delivered a petition signed by more than 1,000 area residents asking the company to bargain fairly with employees.