Union hearings set to begin

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Almost one year after newsroom employees voted in favor of forming a union, federal attorneys will begin prosecution of the Santa Barbara News-Press tomorrow for alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act.
The News-Press is facing 15 unfair labor practice charges, including the allegedly illegal firings of eight reporters. The hearing before the National Labor Relations Board is open to the public and will start at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court at 1415 State St. in Santa Barbara.

Lawyers representing the NLRB will prosecute the newspaper for the following charges:
-Illegally firing Melinda Burns, Anna Davison, Melissa Evans, Dawn Hobbs, Rob Kuznia, Barney McManigal, Tom Schultz and John Zant
-Canceling Starshine Roshell’s weekly column
-Threatening to suspend 11 employees for attempting to deliver a demand letter to owner and publisher Wendy McCaw
-Denying annual bonuses for antiunion reasons
-Ordering employees not to wear “McCaw, Obey the Law” buttons or display similar signs on their vehicles
-Having its General Counsel, David Millstein, intrude on a union meeting
-Conducting surveillance and interrogation of employees involved in rallies and demonstrations
News-Press management has remained tightlipped about the NLRB prosecution, telling the Daily Sound in July that they plan to wait for tomorrow’s hearing to discuss the case.
“We are planning on dealing with the NLRB hearing in the manner that we deal with all legal hearings, in the courtroom,” News-Press attorney Barry Cappello said. “That’s where the true facts will come out.”
Issues between News-Press management and the newsroom cropped up in July 2006, when then-editor-in-chief Jerry Roberts, four other top editors and columnist Barney Brantingham resigned, citing News-Press owner and publisher Wendy McCaw’s growing influence over the newsroom as their impetus for leaving.
Later that month, News-Press staff petitioned to unionize. On September 27, 2006, the newsroom staff voted 33-6 in favor of joining the Graphic Communications Conference, a branch of the Teamsters Union.
News-Press management filed an objection with the NLRB, contending that the union illegally influenced the election. Several of those objections have been dismissed and the remainder are still under review.
By October 3, 2006, 25 people had quit or been fired from the newspaper, including Burns and Davison.
In early February 2007, News-Press management fired Evans, Hobbs, Kuznia, McManigal, Shultz and Zant after they hung a banner reading “Cancel Your Newspaper Today!” from a footbridge on Anapamu Street. Cappello told the Daily Sound in February that the paper had a legal right to fire them.
After tomorrow, the hearing is scheduled to continue August 15-16 and 23-24, and September 4-7 and 10-14.