An Issue of Access p.

By: Debra Gersh

Washington Post bans union organizer, trades shots with Guild
over whether union elections can be held at the paper
LIKE MOST MANAGEMENT-union disputes, each side sees things a little differently.
The Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild has charged that the Washington Post "recently revised" its policy about allowing union meetings and elections at the newspaper's building, but the Post maintains the policy has been in effect since 1989.
The WBNG has charged that the Post is trying to weaken the union months before contract negotiations are slated to begin, but the Post countered it was the union that started this latest battle.
The WBNG maintained that recent National Labor Relations Board rulings prove the Post violated union rights, but the Post said the NLRB ruled in its favor on one complaint and dismissed part of another complaint, deciding to hold a hearing on the remainder. It has not yet issued a ruling.
The match that lit this latest firecracker was struck more than a year ago, but it exploded March 10 when the paper refused to allow the WBNG to hold its election in the Post building lobby.
In 1989, the Post stripped union staffers ? who were not Post employees ? of the employee identification cards they carried that would let them straight into the building without signing in at the security desk.
Franklin J. Havlicek, Post vice president for industrial relations and environmental services, said not only was the paper unaware that union reps were carrying employee ID cards but also that the paper would not give the cards to union staff organizers.
Havlicek said identical letters regarding access to the building were sent to all of the paper's nine unions in 1989, spelling out procedures for union rep access. The paper also asked the WBNG staff to return their ID cards so as not to discriminate against the other unions.
From that point on, union staffers entering the Post building had to sign in at the front desk like other visitors. In addition, Havlicek's office was to be notified each time a union rep signed in.
Then, last April, Guild organizer David Bates was barred from the Post building.
Bates was banned after the Post discovered he was entering the building by calling employees directly, without notifying Havlicek's office, and that his title with the WBNG was "organizer."
Post policy prohibits union organizing on its premises.
According to the union, Bates' work at the Post is strictly representational. His title refers to organizational work done elsewhere, explained Jim Rupert, WBNG unit chair and assistant foreign editor at the Post.
After trying to negotiate with the Post, in September 1992, the Guild filed unfair labor practice charges with the NLRB over the banning of Bates.
Soon thereafter, Havlicek sent a letter to Guild leadership, outlining the 1989 policy regarding access to the building.
Although Havlicek said this was done to reiterate the pre-existing regulations, the WBNG charged it was in retaliation for the union's filing of the complaint and filed a second complaint with the NLRB.
The NLRB ruled Feb. 2 that Bates had violated policy about entering the building and that there was insufficient evidence to support claims that the paper did not recognize him as a union rep or denied him access for representational purposes.
In early March, the NLRB ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the charge that the Post changed its policy regarding on-site meetings, but the board has scheduled an administrative hearing for July on the portion of the Guild complaint alleging retaliation.
In addition, the WBNG scheduled an election on March 10 and informed the Post that balloting would be held in its lobby.
The Post said no.
WBNG members took their case to the street, setting up ballot boxes and banners in front of the Post building.
According to Rupert, the WBNG was told by Havlicek that other unions are not allowed to hold votes on the premises, so it would be unfair to allow the Newspaper Guild.
Union memos noted, however, that the WBNG has held elections on the Post property 16 times in the past 12 years.
Rupert said also that Havlicek offered other "specious explanations," such as security concerns.
Havlicek, however, said that there is nothing about access policy in the 1989 contract with the Guild so what was done before then is not applicable.
The mailers and printers unions do hold brief votes on the premises, Havlicek added, but only on lesser issues. Provisions in their contracts for chapel meetings on-site go back many years.
For big elections, the mailers and printers usually vote through the mail or off-site, as do other unions ? including, occasionally, the WBNG, whose offices are about a block from the Post, according to Havlicek.
Further, when WBNG elections have been held at the Post, they have been conducted without the paper's prior knowledge.
Reluctant to disturb active balloting, Havlicek said the union was told not to do that again, but did.