SOME ETOWN STAFFERS WHO SOUGHT UNION ARE DISMISSED

By: Joel Davis Company Says Layoffs Are Unrelated To Unionization Effort





Thirteen of 28 staffers laid off earlier this month at etown.com
- a San Francisco company that creates and sells consumer
electronics content - were among those who recently filed a
petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a
union election to join The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers
of America (CWA).



This would have made them among the first dot-com employees in
the country to formally seek union status. The company said the
layoffs were unrelated to any plans to form a union and that it
still employs staff seeking unionization.



A CWA spokesman said the Northern California Media Worker Guild
has filed wrongful-termination charges with the NLRB.







Joel Davis (jdavis@editorandpublisher.com) is West Coast editor for E&P.







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