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Oregon Newspaper Violated Workers’ Free Speech, NLRB Charges
For more than a year, managers at The Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene, Ore., have flagrantly defied National Labor Relations Board orders to get rid of a policy that illegally restricted free speech in the workplace.
Finally, they’re being held accountable.
The NLRB’s Northwest office has sided with the Eugene Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA Local 194, finding that the company’s behavior amounts to an unfair labor practice.
The policy in question stopped the union from passing out materials at work, as volunteers on breaks had done quietly for decades, and put an end to other so-called “solicitations.” Employees were no longer allowed to pass around get-well cards, collect money for retirement gifts or distribute baby shower invitations, among other bans.
The Register-Guard used the same strategy to thwart the Guild’s campaign to organize part-timers in 1997. The company struck an agreement with the NLRB in 1998 to rescind the policy, but reinstated it after contract negotiations started a year ago. The paper’s owners have refused the NLRB’s request to admit guilt and settle the present case. As a result, the matter will go to a formal hearing June 13.
Paul Eggert, the NLRB’s regional director in the Northwest, noted in his complaint that the Register-Guard’s publisher “in an attempt to undermine the effectiveness of the (1998) settlement agreement, sent a letter to all unit employees which asserted that the allegations were ‘not affirmed’ by the Board and that (the paper) was ‘not cited by the Board.’”
After the complaint was issued in February, Publisher Tony Baker sent another letter to workers implying the matter was no big deal legally. However, Baker was persuaded that the ULP charge was serious enough to cover as a news story — four days after other media in Eugene picked it up. Human Resources Director Cynthia Walden, who instituted the policy, was quoted as saying the union’s pursuit of the ULP was “one of a number of tactics the Guild has taken during negotiations,” and claimed to feel confident that an administrative law judge would rule in the company’s favor.
Lance Robertson, the Guild’s chief negotiator, said the union pursued the ULP charges because the company’s action was illegal and grossly unfair to employees. “We are saddened the company continues to fight rather than settle this long-running dispute, restore our rights in the workplace and agree to a fair and equitable contract,” he said.
Walden’s claim that the NLRB complaint is a “tactic” is bogus, Robertson said, because the dispute has been going on since 1997, two years before bargaining started in February 1999.
The NLRB charges haven’t stopped the company from breaking the law, however. With an hour’s notice on April 14, Baker and Walden told union members that they couldn’t have a rally as planned in the company cafeteria, an area of the building open to all employees.
The Guild had always had access to the cafeteria, recently holding bake sales there to support the bargaining committee. Robertson said federal labor law is clear: Employees have the right to do job actions in non-work areas of a plant. He said the union will file another ULP complaint.
Just before the scheduled rally, the company ordered all of its managers to the cafeteria to eat lunch, filling the tables to keep the Guild out. But their ploy backfired. About 50 Guild members gathered in front of the building and drew the attention of a local TV station, which aired a story about the labor dispute on the nightly news.
It wasn’t the first time Guild members have had to move out of the building to conduct business. Because of the policy barring distribution of materials inside, union volunteers routinely hand out literature at the newspaper’s back door as employees come to work.
With little progress in bargaining over the last year, the Guild is planning to step up its campaign among workers and in the community. The union is fighting to defeat the company’s anti-worker agenda and its architect — union-busting attorney Michael Zinser of Nashville.
One of the company’s strategies has been to withhold information requested by the Guild, a maneuver that led the NLRB to issue a second ULP complaint against the newspaper. Eggert agreed with the union that the company “falsely claimed” the information didn’t exist.
“We’re gratified that the federal government agrees that the company hasn’t been bargaining in good faith,” Local 194 President Suzi Prozanksi said. “We need accurate information in order to address the sweeping changes proposed by the company at the bargaining table.”
Finally, they’re being held accountable.
The NLRB’s Northwest office has sided with the Eugene Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA Local 194, finding that the company’s behavior amounts to an unfair labor practice.
The policy in question stopped the union from passing out materials at work, as volunteers on breaks had done quietly for decades, and put an end to other so-called “solicitations.” Employees were no longer allowed to pass around get-well cards, collect money for retirement gifts or distribute baby shower invitations, among other bans.
The Register-Guard used the same strategy to thwart the Guild’s campaign to organize part-timers in 1997. The company struck an agreement with the NLRB in 1998 to rescind the policy, but reinstated it after contract negotiations started a year ago. The paper’s owners have refused the NLRB’s request to admit guilt and settle the present case. As a result, the matter will go to a formal hearing June 13.
Paul Eggert, the NLRB’s regional director in the Northwest, noted in his complaint that the Register-Guard’s publisher “in an attempt to undermine the effectiveness of the (1998) settlement agreement, sent a letter to all unit employees which asserted that the allegations were ‘not affirmed’ by the Board and that (the paper) was ‘not cited by the Board.’”
After the complaint was issued in February, Publisher Tony Baker sent another letter to workers implying the matter was no big deal legally. However, Baker was persuaded that the ULP charge was serious enough to cover as a news story — four days after other media in Eugene picked it up. Human Resources Director Cynthia Walden, who instituted the policy, was quoted as saying the union’s pursuit of the ULP was “one of a number of tactics the Guild has taken during negotiations,” and claimed to feel confident that an administrative law judge would rule in the company’s favor.
Lance Robertson, the Guild’s chief negotiator, said the union pursued the ULP charges because the company’s action was illegal and grossly unfair to employees. “We are saddened the company continues to fight rather than settle this long-running dispute, restore our rights in the workplace and agree to a fair and equitable contract,” he said.
Walden’s claim that the NLRB complaint is a “tactic” is bogus, Robertson said, because the dispute has been going on since 1997, two years before bargaining started in February 1999.
The NLRB charges haven’t stopped the company from breaking the law, however. With an hour’s notice on April 14, Baker and Walden told union members that they couldn’t have a rally as planned in the company cafeteria, an area of the building open to all employees.
The Guild had always had access to the cafeteria, recently holding bake sales there to support the bargaining committee. Robertson said federal labor law is clear: Employees have the right to do job actions in non-work areas of a plant. He said the union will file another ULP complaint.
Just before the scheduled rally, the company ordered all of its managers to the cafeteria to eat lunch, filling the tables to keep the Guild out. But their ploy backfired. About 50 Guild members gathered in front of the building and drew the attention of a local TV station, which aired a story about the labor dispute on the nightly news.
It wasn’t the first time Guild members have had to move out of the building to conduct business. Because of the policy barring distribution of materials inside, union volunteers routinely hand out literature at the newspaper’s back door as employees come to work.
With little progress in bargaining over the last year, the Guild is planning to step up its campaign among workers and in the community. The union is fighting to defeat the company’s anti-worker agenda and its architect — union-busting attorney Michael Zinser of Nashville.
One of the company’s strategies has been to withhold information requested by the Guild, a maneuver that led the NLRB to issue a second ULP complaint against the newspaper. Eggert agreed with the union that the company “falsely claimed” the information didn’t exist.
“We’re gratified that the federal government agrees that the company hasn’t been bargaining in good faith,” Local 194 President Suzi Prozanksi said. “We need accurate information in order to address the sweeping changes proposed by the company at the bargaining table.”