Even After Strike Ends, 'York (Pa.) Daily Record' Bylines Withheld

By: Joe Strupp Although they ended their byline strike nearly a week ago, Newspaper Guild members at the York (Pa.) Daily Record and York Sunday News say their names are continuing to be kept off of stories as retribution for the organized protest.

"It's clearly punishment for union activities," said Lauri Lebo, a unit chair for the local guild unit, who says 27 reporters who took part in the week-long strike have yet to see their names back in print. "They have also said that they will withhold them until we get a contract, which is coercion."

The byline strike began on July 20 and ended seven days later, Lebo said. But despite the union ending the protest last Thursday, bylines have continued to be withheld.

Editor James McClure and Managing Editor Randy Parker did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

The byline dispute is the latest in a long-running contract battle that dates back more than a year at the paper, one of two dailies in York. Since contract talks at the Daily Record began in mid-2005, union leaders said they have had little success in reaching a deal, while claiming the paper's management has failed to bargain in good faith and violated federal law by not giving union leaders time off for negotiation sessions.

"I had to step down from the negotiating committee because I ran out of vacation days," said Lebo.

The labor complaints and other grievances were filed with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year, resulting in a scheduled hearing before an administrative law judge in October. The guild also launched a campaign to get Daily Record subscribers to cancel their subscriptions in protest, handing out cards for readers to fill out promising to cancel if a contract is not reached.

According to Lebo, the guild's last contract ended last October. She said the union is asking for a new three-year deal, with a 5% annual raise. The paper, she added, is offering a three-year agreement with 2% pay hikes each year, as well as higher insurance premiums, a reduction in mileage reimbursement, and new flexibility for the paper to schedule employee hours to avoid overtime.

Ironically, as the Daily Record guild workers battle for a new agreement, their fellow union members at the cross-town York Dispatch recently signed a new deal. It includes annual raises of 2.5% to 3%, higher mileage reimbursement, and a signing bonus of $100 per person. In addition, the deal comes months before the unit's old contract is set to expire in October.

"Having been involved in Dispatch contract negotiations in the past, I must say that the process this time was much different," Liz Evans, a York Dispatch guild chair, wrote to E&P in an e-mail. "It was fair, amicable and quick."

In an unusual twist, nine Daily Record employees who had worked at the Dispatch, including Lebo, are now covered by the new Dispatch agreement, at least until a new Daily Record accord is signed. That means they will receive those raises and the bonus money.

The guild coverage is a result of a provision in the 2004 deal that allowed the owners of the Dispatch and Daily Record to swap ownership. Currently, MediaNews Group owns the Daily Record and Sunday News, while the Dispatch is owned by local resident Phil Buckner.

"This is the weirdest thing I have ever heard of," Lebo said about the cross-coverage. "That we are voting on their contract, and expect to be under it. It is bizarre."

Prior to the 2004 swap, Buckner owned the Daily Record and MediaNews ran the Dispatch. The papers remain under a joint operating agreement that runs both papers' business operations through the York Newspaper Company, and under MediaNews control.