Midnight at the Union Rally - A New NLRB Election Win and Work to Do

crossposted from unbossed

It's been a tough - but exciting - year for workers at the Bay Area News Group-East Bay (BANG-EB) papers. Last August, the company began its anti-union campaign, withdrawing recognition of the union at some locations and using a consolidation to withdraw recognition from all unions.

That was August 2007, but after an NLRB election victory, the workers are gearing up to fight for their rights under a new collective bargaining agreement. It won't be easy. When an employer wants to be anti-union, they can be ruthless, defying the law and even destroying their own companies in the process.

Background

Newspaper unions have been taking it on the chin for over a decade. In the mid-1990's newspaper companies decided to go on the offensive and fight their unions, damn the costs. Gannet was a leader in this battle. Those battles took place in Detroit with the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press. Workers there kept remnants of unions, but they are very weak. Many of those who struck were permanently replaced, so strikers today are working with scabs - both replacements and those who crossed the picket line.

Union workers in San Diego at the Union-Tribune fought for years and years against a hostile management. Many workers lost representation. But some remnants held on. Apparently there were helped by support from Interfaith Worker Justice.

Other battles took place at papers throughout the US. It has been one very tough decade. And it is still going on with layoffs taking place this week at newspapers across the country.

So this is new NLRB win is a real victory and cause for celebration

Not to say tough days are not ahead. Here are some of the key events that have led to that NLRB election victory and the midnight rally.

On May 2, the Newspaper Guild filed a petition for a recognition election with the NLRB. Supporting the petition were union cards signed by half the employees in the unit.

Nine months after MediaNews Group withdrew recognition of the Newspaper Guild unit at its Alameda Newspaper Group outside San Francisco, employees there and at five sister newspapers have petitioned for a new union vote.

Organizers of the union effort at the Bay Area News Group-East Bay (BANG-EB) papers, which represent nine MediaNews Group dailies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, filed with the National Labor Relations Board on Friday for a vote to certify the new combined union.

Sara Steffens, a reporter with the Contra Costa Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., said more than half of the 250 newsroom employees at the BANG-EB papers signed guild authorization cards stating they wish to have guild representation. NLRB rules require that 30% of eligible union employees sign such cards before a vote can be held.

"I'm incredibly proud to be part of our newsrooms today," said Steffens, a co-chair of the guild campaign. "It's heartening to see so many of us come together, during these turbulent times in our industry, saying 'We deserve a seat at the table.' Tough decisions need to be made, but we want to be part of building our future."
. . .
"A strong majority has spoken. We must work together more actively to solve the problems facing our company and our industry," said reporter Karl Fischer, a co-chair of the union organizing committee. "We can help to make our papers both excellent and efficient. We know our managers share those goals."

Steffens expects a response from the NLRB in six to eight weeks. She said if a vote is held, only a simple majority of union-eligible employees would need to approve unionization.

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Management's response was negative:

BANG-EB Publisher John Armstrong said he had not seen anything about the NLRB filing, but added, "if it has been filed and if we have an election, I would hope the employees would do what is best for them and best for the company -- to remain union-free."

He declined to comment further on that statement.

Within two weeks of filing the petition for election, the election date was set for an election June 13, about 5 weeks from the date of filing the petition.  link

"Based on an oral agreement between representatives of the company and the guild, the National Labor Relations Board will schedule a secret ballot election on Friday, June 13th, on the union's petition to become the exclusive bargaining agent for pay, benefits and working conditions for non-supervisory news employees of Bay Area News Group-East Bay," the memo read in part.

Added Armstrong: "Yes, you read correctly: Friday the 13th."

It was a tight vote, but the union pulled off a majority yes votes.

The vote was 104 to 92 in favor of the union, the NLRB said. The vote marked the latest development in a union-led drive to organize journalists employed by papers in the region, including those employed by this paper.
. . .
"It's great," said Karl Fischer, a union organizer and a journalist employed by BANG-East Bay. "We are better prepared to move forward given the market conditions. We are really looking forward to working with management to become the fast and flexible newspaper we can be."

Eight ballots were challenged.

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With eight challenges, had those votes been found eligible to be counted and if they were all no votes, the vote tally would still be a majority for the union - 104 - 100, but common wisdom is you want to win big if you want to get a contract. The unions will have a real challenge to get everyone on board and united to support their union and the bargaining process.

The total eligible to vote was 225, so about 21 did not vote. In NLRB elections, as in US political elections, you win with a majority of votes cast. These nonvoters are people the union will need to reach out to.

So back to the midnight rally

A group of us from BANG-EB walked in downtown Oakland on Monday night with hundreds of other East Bay union workers - from nurses to City of Oakland employees to airport workers - all in pursuit of contracts with their employers.

There were lots of signs, picketing, and yelling about what we want (contracts) and when we want them (now). We even introduced our own "Go guild, Go forward" chant into the mix.

There was also a beautiful and sad moment at the Tribune Tower, where everyone stopped to listen to Sara Steffens, standing on a couple of milk crates no less — talk (yell) about our recently voted-in union, and the latest layoffs at BANG-EB.

The response was very positive, and very reassuring to me personally. We were officially welcomed into the union family. What probably struck me most was how many people from other unions showed up to march on a cold weekday night. These people know how to raise hell.

I know it will be a while before the union culture truly infiltrates our own East Bay unit. But I am really looking forward to seeing the same kind of enthusiasm, unity, and commitment from our own people one day — not 20 of us, but the whole unit.

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Today - July 4, the union tells us it is fighting BANG-EB for laying off union members. Here is what they say:

Representatives of the Northern California Media Workers Guild and management of the Bay Area News Group – East Bay met Thursday to discuss a pending layoff affecting the newly organized bargaining unit.

A list of 29 individuals potentially to be laid off was given to the Guild on Wednesday. Management began notifying the individuals that same day. Negotiators have agreed to a package of severance terms including up to 12 weeks pay for those voluntarily signing a separation agreement. The Guild agreed that job cuts can be made effective July 11, as management proposed.

Among those identified for possible layoff was Sara Steffens, an award-winning reporter for the Contra Costa Times and co-chair of the BANG-EB organizing committee.

Management stated it made the layoffs based on an evaluation of the expendability or redundancy of positions.

Guild representatives rejected the company’s methodology and how it was applied to the BANG-EB workforce to prepare the layoff list. A request for more details needed to evaluate the list was conveyed to management on Thursday.

Another meeting is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

Representing the Guild: Reporters Sara Steffens, Karl Fischer and Josh Richman; copy editor Jeremiah Oshan; and Local Representative Carl Hall.

Representing management: General Counsel Marshall Anstandig and Human Resources V-P Laurie Fox.

They need our support. As the union says:

Our premise is simple: We can do better. We expect better journalism and better jobs from the Bay Area’s largest news company, and we can achieve this if we work from a position of strength. By forming our own Guild, we claim a seat at the table on the decisions that matter to us all.

We can work with management to find creative solutions to challenges, and to make our publications stronger. We support efficiency, and we also insist on quality. Through the Guild, we can more effectively advocate for our craft.

In this era of online media, our journalism should stand out. We must push for better Web content while maintaining our stronghold, our franchise on the local news. We must synthesize these ideas and build a fast-moving, highly skilled workforce that is treated fairly and paid according to our skills.

We’re tired of the constant drumbeat of negativity and layoff news from corporate cost-cutting specialists. We want a seat at the table, to stare impending trouble in the face and join in the decision-making processes that affect our lives. At least we will know that if bad things happen, we did our level best to help ourselves and our co-workers.

It’s time to act. This is no time to sit back and watch our industry decline.

Let’s stand together.