Union-Busting Spurs Organizing at MediaNews

For publishing giant MediaNews, combining its Bay Area newsrooms is a not-so-subtle way of trying to dump its union. But The Newspaper Guild-CWA plans not only to survive, but grow.

"The consolidation of the Alameda Newspaper Group and the Contra Costa Times presents an opportunity for the Guild to organize a long-standing non-union workforce at the Times and gives us an unprecedented opportunity to shape the future of journalism in the Bay Area," TNG-CWA President Linda Foley said.

The Northern California Media Guild-CWA represents about 130 workers at the five-paper Alameda group, which includes the Oakland Tribune. Because the non-union Contra Costa Times and other smaller newspapers included in the merger have 160 workers, MediaNews is claiming that the Guild no longer has a majority.

In August, MediaNews withdrew recognition of the Guild, a move that immediately led the union to file an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board. "Given the challenges our business faces, it's unfortunate the company is pursuing this losing strategy rather than the pattern of good faith bargaining we have tried so hard to build," union representative Carl Hall said in a letter to the company.

The Guild is actively working to organize the new workers and make moot the MediaNews claim that the union doesn't have a majority. Meanwhile, the Guild has submitted extensive requests for information from the company and is demanding MediaNews bargain over any changes in working conditions, wages, benefits or other contract terms.