NLRB Cites York, Pa., Newspapers for Bad-Faith Bargaining

Over the past year, newsroom employees have been mobilizing for a new contract, building community support and filing unfair labor practice charges at the York Daily Record and the York Dispatch Sunday News. Now, the National Labor Relations Board has issued a second complaint against the newspapers for failure to bargain in good faith and for union busting.

The workers, members of the York, Pa., Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 38218, will have their say at an Oct. 24 hearing before an administrative law judge in Baltimore.

The labor board complaint consolidates charges filed by TNG-CWA in March and August that the publisher failed to respond to numerous requests for information required for bargaining, refused to arbitrate a grievance and refused to grant employees leave for hours they spent in bargaining, and failed to bargain in good faith.

Further, the board found, "to discourage its employees from assisting the union or engaging in other concerted activities," the publisher introduced a dress code prohibiting them from wearing printed t-shirts to work and told employees "they cannot spend too much time discussing matters unrelated to work during working time."

The publisher also announced it would withhold workers' bylines and photo credits "until a collective bargaining agreement was approved."

As a remedy, the board is seeking an order requiring the employer to restore leave time used by union bargaining committee members to attend negotiations; to restore bylines, photo credits and tag lines or to cease withholding them for discriminatory reasons, and to bargain in good faith until an agreement is reached.

"We're very happy with the NLRB's decision," said Tom Joyce, the local's mobilization coordinator who was verbally warned by management to limit his conversations with other employees.

"We've had a very difficult year. It's nice to get some acknowledgement that what the company has been doing to us isn't right and isn't legal. I'm very proud of our membership. They've stood strong against some very strong pressure exerted by the company, and they've made clear they're not going to be bullied."

More than 55 workers at the York Daily Record have been working under terms of a contract that expired Sept. 30, 2005. An additional 9 workers in a second bargaining unit at the York Sunday News are still covered by the contract from the York Dispatch.  In May 2004 both papers came under the ownership of MediaNews of Denver.

The new owners hired the union-busting law firm King and Ballow — from Nashville — to advise them and to represent them in bargaining but recently changed representatives at the bargaining table to a former attorney for Knight-Ridder newspapers.

"We hope that, with the trial coming, the company will decide to sit down and bargain fairly and that we'll have a contract," Joyce said.