NLRB Will Take Up 'Santa Barbara News-Press' Charges

By: E&P Staff The U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has told management and the Teamsters union organizing the Santa Barbara News-Press that it will take up several of the complaints lodged in the bitter labor fight, the two sides said.

In separate statements, representatives of News-Press owner Wendy McCaw and the Teamsters' Graphic Communications Conference said they have been informed the NLRB will assign an administrative law judge to hold hearings on several complaints that the paper retaliated against employees for their union activity. The NLRB has not publicly announced the decision to hold hearings or scheduled a date for them to begin.

In September, the newsroom staff voted for representation by the Teamsters. The vote followed a bitter summer of departures at the newspaper, with top editors complaining McCaw was unethically interfering with news coverage.

At least 26 newsroom employees have quit or been fired since the dispute began in July.

The NLRB charges apparently headed for a hearing include allegations that a manager threatened to suspend journalists who wanted to deliver a protest letter to McCaw plus the cancellation of the regular column written by a union supporter.

Since then, both sides have lodged additional complaints against each other.

Most recently, the News-Press accused Teamsters of being behind a number of vandalism incidents, including anti-News-Press graffiti on news racks and the theft of newspapers from racks.

"Based on the union's concerted and public campaign urging subscribers to cancel the paper, the News-Press believes that this theft and vandalism, which hurt its distributors, are attributable to the union," the newspaper said in a statement.

In late October, the union filed a complaint over the firing of long-time employee Melinda Burns, who was a leader of the organizing campaign.

The News-Press said that claim is "absolutely false."

It said Burns "was terminated because she violated journalistic standards by repeatedly injecting personal bias into her reporting."