An administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has ruled the Spanish-language newspaper El Vocero in San Juan, Puerto Rico, unlawfully closed its circulation department and fired 107 unionized employees in order to move the work to a “non-union shell company.”
Judge Michael A. Rosas in a Sept. 24 ruling, also found numerous other labor law violations in the long-running dispute between El Vocero, and Union de Periodistas, Artes Graficas y Ramas Anexas Local 33225, a union affiliated with Communications Workers of America.
Among the violations: Making unilateral changes to employees' health, pension and vacation benefits, work assignments, and severance packages without notifying or bargaining with the union.
Rosas rejected the newspaper’s argument that financial conditions mandates its actions.
"The credible evidence reveals that El Vocero's financial situation was improving - albeit slightly - when the company announced its decision to close the circulation department in July 2009," he wrote in his ruling. Whatever its financial condition, the judge added, the newspaper was obligated to bargain with the union.
The San Juan office of the NLRB said it is seeking a federal injunction to force the newspaper to restore the circulation department and its 107 employees, pending a final determination by the full NLRB.
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