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Taiwan Trip Boosts Hopes at Chinese Daily News
A labor delegation’s summer trip to Taiwan raised the spirits of Chinese Daily News workers in Los Angeles whose managers have long refused to recognize their bargaining unit and persist in a cruel campaign of fear tactics and humiliation against pro-union employees.
Chinese Daily News reporter Lynne Wang, part of the three-member delegation, was able to meet with the labor relations manager for the United Daily News, the Taiwan-based company that owns the L.A. daily and other Chinese-language newspapers.
Wang said manager Teng Yun-Shing said little but listened attentively and appeared concerned about the harassment and invasions of privacy that have become commonplace since Daily News workers signed cards and then voted, in March 2001, to be represented by The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 39521. The wall-to-wall unit at the paper represents 153 people.
“He took notes and said he would report everything I said to the boss,” Wang said. “He gave me a feeling that he was sympathetic.”
Meeting with management from the United Daily News was a key goal of the trip, but Wang and fellow travelers Ben Hensler, AFL-CIO international campaign coordinator, and Kent Wong, director of the Center for Labor Research and Education at UCLA, didn’t know if officials would talk with them until the day before the meeting took place.
The company agreed to meet after labor unions in Taiwan — including the union at the United Daily News itself — said they would call off a large rally planned in front of the building to protest treatment of their Los Angeles brethren.
Wang was accompanied by two members of the United Daily News union, two from the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions — an umbrella organization like the AFL-CIO — and a representative of the National Federation of Mass Media Trade Unions, which has 15 affiliates in Taiwan. Although Teng had wanted to meet with only Wang, he agreed to see the full group.
She said Teng also “happily accepted” more than 2,000 cards of support from fellow CWA members urging the company to do the right thing. Most of the cards were collected at the CWA convention in July, where Wang got a standing ovation after describing the workers’ struggle.
Wang said Teng spent most of the morning with the group, listening to her talk about miseries imposed on union supporters by a union-buster who’s been given a luxury live-in suite at the L.A. news building.
His tactics include tapping phones, monitoring computers, searching desks and even sending private investigators out to follow union supporters, Wang said. In addition, workers including Wang have been screamed at, threatened and had intimidating company flyers posted around their desks.
Teng said he’d never heard of such tactics, or the use of a union-buster. Wang told him that between the union-buster and the company’s attorney hired to fight the union, the Chinese Daily News has spent more than $1 million avoiding a contract with its workers.
In a follow-up phone call, Wang said Teng told her that he’d reported their conversation to the top manager. “He said the boss listened but didn’t look angry,” she said.
What that means for Chinese Daily News workers isn’t clear yet, but Wang said she will continue to follow up with the parent company. She said the support she got from unions in Taiwan made her feel courageous and hopeful, noting a story told by the worker who founded the United Daily News union more than 10 years ago.
He told Wang how the boss called him into his office during the organizing drive. “He pounded the table and shouted ‘Are you trying to have a revolution?’” Wang said. “But they still went for it. He told me not to be discouraged.”
To take action to support the Chinese Daily News workers, go to ga.cwa-union.org and find the CDN link under “What’s Hot.” The webpage also has ample background information about the workers’ struggle, as well as video of Lynne Wang speaking at the 2002 CWA convention.
Chinese Daily News reporter Lynne Wang, part of the three-member delegation, was able to meet with the labor relations manager for the United Daily News, the Taiwan-based company that owns the L.A. daily and other Chinese-language newspapers.
Wang said manager Teng Yun-Shing said little but listened attentively and appeared concerned about the harassment and invasions of privacy that have become commonplace since Daily News workers signed cards and then voted, in March 2001, to be represented by The Newspaper Guild-CWA Local 39521. The wall-to-wall unit at the paper represents 153 people.
“He took notes and said he would report everything I said to the boss,” Wang said. “He gave me a feeling that he was sympathetic.”
Meeting with management from the United Daily News was a key goal of the trip, but Wang and fellow travelers Ben Hensler, AFL-CIO international campaign coordinator, and Kent Wong, director of the Center for Labor Research and Education at UCLA, didn’t know if officials would talk with them until the day before the meeting took place.
The company agreed to meet after labor unions in Taiwan — including the union at the United Daily News itself — said they would call off a large rally planned in front of the building to protest treatment of their Los Angeles brethren.
Wang was accompanied by two members of the United Daily News union, two from the Taiwan Confederation of Trade Unions — an umbrella organization like the AFL-CIO — and a representative of the National Federation of Mass Media Trade Unions, which has 15 affiliates in Taiwan. Although Teng had wanted to meet with only Wang, he agreed to see the full group.
She said Teng also “happily accepted” more than 2,000 cards of support from fellow CWA members urging the company to do the right thing. Most of the cards were collected at the CWA convention in July, where Wang got a standing ovation after describing the workers’ struggle.
Wang said Teng spent most of the morning with the group, listening to her talk about miseries imposed on union supporters by a union-buster who’s been given a luxury live-in suite at the L.A. news building.
His tactics include tapping phones, monitoring computers, searching desks and even sending private investigators out to follow union supporters, Wang said. In addition, workers including Wang have been screamed at, threatened and had intimidating company flyers posted around their desks.
Teng said he’d never heard of such tactics, or the use of a union-buster. Wang told him that between the union-buster and the company’s attorney hired to fight the union, the Chinese Daily News has spent more than $1 million avoiding a contract with its workers.
In a follow-up phone call, Wang said Teng told her that he’d reported their conversation to the top manager. “He said the boss listened but didn’t look angry,” she said.
What that means for Chinese Daily News workers isn’t clear yet, but Wang said she will continue to follow up with the parent company. She said the support she got from unions in Taiwan made her feel courageous and hopeful, noting a story told by the worker who founded the United Daily News union more than 10 years ago.
He told Wang how the boss called him into his office during the organizing drive. “He pounded the table and shouted ‘Are you trying to have a revolution?’” Wang said. “But they still went for it. He told me not to be discouraged.”
To take action to support the Chinese Daily News workers, go to ga.cwa-union.org and find the CDN link under “What’s Hot.” The webpage also has ample background information about the workers’ struggle, as well as video of Lynne Wang speaking at the 2002 CWA convention.