Fired News-Press reporters hold victory rally

BY ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

Reporters fired from the Santa Barbara News-Press gathered in De la Guerra Plaza yesterday to briefly celebrate a major victory in their fight to regain their jobs before shifting their attention to future litigation.
Led by Melinda Burns and Dawn Hobbs, two of the most vocal proponents of unionization efforts at the newspaper, a group of former writers, union representatives and supporters applauded a judge’s recent ruling on 15 unfair labor practice charges filed against the News-Press.

“The law has finally caught up with Wendy McCaw,” Burns said, referring to the News-Press’s owner and publisher. “It’s a big victory. … No employer in this country should be able to treat their employees the way Wendy McCaw has treated her newsroom.”
Judge William Kocol issued his recommendation following a 17-day National Labor Relations Board hearing starting in August, finding in favor of the union on all counts and ordering their reinstatement with backpay, along with other remedies.
“We were not expecting this decision so quickly,” Hobbs said. “That tells me the issues at hand were crystal clear in this judge’s mind.”
Hobbs, who worked as a police and courts reporter at the News-Press, described Judge Kocol’s decision as a scathing ruling that will be studied closely nationwide.
“This is a case that will be read about in journalism ethics and history books,” she said. “…They’ll read about how we took down the tyrant who attempted to turn this prize-winning newspaper into her personal mouthpiece.”
Former sportswriter John Zant, fired along with five other reporters for participating in a union demonstration the company deemed disloyal, also spoke out at the rally. Judge Kocol ruled that the demonstration was protected under labor law and did not constitute disloyal activity.
“We’re having a little endzone dance,” Zant said. “Some people say it’s only the second quarter, but if this is drawn out, we’ll just have to run up the score.”
Even as they reveled in Judge Kocol’s sweeping rebuke of arguments made by News-Press attorneys, the fired reporters and union representatives acknowledged that they likely face a long road before they return to the newsroom.
“We’ve won another battle, but we’re not done,” union attorney Ira Gottlieb said, sporting a trademark colorful tie and a “McCaw Obey the Law” button.
Although News-Press attorneys and management had yet to put together an official statement about yesterday’s rally, a statement issued Monday about the judge’s decision made it clear they plan to file an appeal.
“The next step is to obtain a decision of the NLRB in Washington, D.C., and the decision of that body is enforceable only upon the order of the United States Court of Appeals,” the statement from News-Press attorneys said. “The News-Press will exhaust all possible appeals, and fully expects to achieve justice through that appellate process. The matter as a whole is in its infancy.”
Gottlieb said the fired employees are seeking an emergency injunction that will allow them to return to the newsroom as lawyers hash out any appeals. Although an attempt to seek injunctive relief from the NLRB failed 3-2 in June, he said the board currently has only two members and authority to bring forward injunctions now rests with federal labor attorneys.
“With this strong decision … we are hopeful General Counsel will take another look at this,” Gottlieb said, adding that the reporters could return to their position as soon as a month after injunction papers are filed, if successful.
Burns and Hobbs both expressed a strong desire to return to the News-Press newsroom.
“I’m ready to go back right now,” Hobbs said. “It’s very important for me to return to the newsroom and continue my job.”
Others, such as former religion writer Melissa Evans, seemed slightly hesitant. Evans took a position with the Daily Breeze, a newspaper in Torrance, Calif., in September and said she isn’t sure she would be willing to move back to Santa Barbara so soon.
“If we don’t get the injunction, I can see myself returning in a few years,” she said. “…I definitely want to finish what we started here. We’ve all invested so much.”
In addition to fired reporters Burns, Evans, Hobbs, Zant, Anna Davison, Rob Kuznia and columnist Starshine Roshell — who had her column cancelled by the News-Press before quitting — lead union organizer Marty Keegan, Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum, and journalist and biographer Lou Cannon also made appearances at the rally.
“This has been a rare opportunity for me to work with some of the most incredible people I’ve ever worked with in my 31 years of doing this,” Keegan said. “…It has been gut-wrenching and hard for all of them.”
He said the section of Judge Kocol’s decision that pleased him most described how the judge relied heavily on testimony by fired employees while dismissing much of the testimony by News-Press management.
Cannon, after describing the ruling as a “vindication of honest journalism,” urged McCaw to reinstate the fired reporters and apologize to the community.
“If Wendy McCaw were to do the right thing and rehire these people … I think this community can go forward,” he said.
Many of the speakers at the rally also thanked federal attorneys Steve Wyllie and Brian Gee for preparing the case against the News-Press alongside Gottlieb, as well as the community members who have supported them by canceling their News-Press subscriptions.
“This has been a long and hard struggle, longer and harder than any of us imagined,” Hobbs said. “But we are not backing down. We refuse to be forced out of town.”