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TNG-CWA: Scripps Misleads Shareholders About Labor
The E.W. Scripps Company's annual report contains "false and misleading" statements regarding the media company's relationship with many of its union-represented workers, The Newspaper Guild-CWA charged April 7 in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Guild represents 800 E.W. Scripps employees at five newspapers and also holds $15,000 in Scripps stock through The Newspaper Guild International Defense Fund.
In filing its 2004 report with the SEC, Scripps claimed to have a "generally satisfactory" relationship with its employees and said its only pending litigation is "in the ordinary course of business."
In truth, the paper has hired union-busting attorney Michael Zinser and unleashed an attack on its workers at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., whose contract expired more than a year ago.
In the letter to the SEC, Guild Secretary-Treasurer Bernard Lunzer details the labor dispute as well as legal action the paper has taken against the union to try to crush the "evergreen clause," a common provision that allows a bargaining unit's last contract and arbitration rights to remain effective while a new contract is negotiated.
"While there is not yet a work stoppage at The Commercial Appeal, we submit that it is misleading to claim that there is a 'generally satisfactory' relationship with their employees, and that the lawsuit against the union is 'in the ordinary course of business,'" Lunzer wrote.
The Guild has represented employees at the Memphis newspaper since 1936, with members in editorial, commercial business, advertising, maintenance and transportation departments. Management and labor there have operated under an evergreen clause for more than 50 years. Now, however, The Commercial Appeal is challenging it in federal court.
"The labor relations between these parties have been completely changed by this extraordinary attack on the arbitration process," the letter states. "The litigation, now in the discovery phase and slated for trial in the fall of 2005, constitutes a significant change in the 69-year relationship between these parties, which might be considered important by a reasonable investor."
The Guild is requesting a response from the SEC prior to the Scripps shareholder meeting April 14 in Cincinnati.
The Guild represents 800 E.W. Scripps employees at five newspapers and also holds $15,000 in Scripps stock through The Newspaper Guild International Defense Fund.
In filing its 2004 report with the SEC, Scripps claimed to have a "generally satisfactory" relationship with its employees and said its only pending litigation is "in the ordinary course of business."
In truth, the paper has hired union-busting attorney Michael Zinser and unleashed an attack on its workers at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., whose contract expired more than a year ago.
In the letter to the SEC, Guild Secretary-Treasurer Bernard Lunzer details the labor dispute as well as legal action the paper has taken against the union to try to crush the "evergreen clause," a common provision that allows a bargaining unit's last contract and arbitration rights to remain effective while a new contract is negotiated.
"While there is not yet a work stoppage at The Commercial Appeal, we submit that it is misleading to claim that there is a 'generally satisfactory' relationship with their employees, and that the lawsuit against the union is 'in the ordinary course of business,'" Lunzer wrote.
The Guild has represented employees at the Memphis newspaper since 1936, with members in editorial, commercial business, advertising, maintenance and transportation departments. Management and labor there have operated under an evergreen clause for more than 50 years. Now, however, The Commercial Appeal is challenging it in federal court.
"The labor relations between these parties have been completely changed by this extraordinary attack on the arbitration process," the letter states. "The litigation, now in the discovery phase and slated for trial in the fall of 2005, constitutes a significant change in the 69-year relationship between these parties, which might be considered important by a reasonable investor."
The Guild is requesting a response from the SEC prior to the Scripps shareholder meeting April 14 in Cincinnati.