Update, Feb. 19: As we reported earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board denied our appeal in the case of the July layoffs, saying the company showed sufficient business reasons for its decisions.

Ironically or not, I got the news in Washington D.C., where I was speaking about the need to revamp our labor laws.

Last week our lawyer sent a letter to the NLRB, alerting them that she intends to file “a request to reconsider,” which is just what it sounds like: we’re asking them to take a second look at the decision.

This step isn’t a common part of the appeals process. Still, we feel there are good reasons for it. Our Local and the Guild as a whole place great importance on protecting workers from illegal retaliation for their union activity.

Meanwhile, two NLRB charges remain pending locally, both documenting the company’s behavior during and after the union organizing campaign.

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Update, Feb. 5: I regret to inform you that the National Labor Relations Board has denied our appeal in the case of the June layoffs, ruling with finality that the company acted within the boundaries of law when it dismissed several of our union activists.

We disagree, of course, particularly in the case of our unit chair, Sara Steffens. Your unit leadership will meet shortly to discuss our immediate next steps.

I would like to say, personally, that I believe the intent of some of those layoffs was to intimidate our union, derail its early progress and cause the average newsroom worker at BANG-EB to lose faith that collective action can make a difference, both in improving our lot and in healing what ails our papers.

If I’m right, and that was the point, I can only conclude that the gesture failed. Utterly.

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Update, Dec. 24: We continue to pursue legal remedies to the company’s anti-union tactics.On Tuesday we authorized our law firm to file an appeal to Washington DC of our case protesting the targeting of union organizers during the July 2008 layoffs. The NLRB’s Oakland region found insufficient evidence last month to issue a complaint. We hope a fresh set of eyes will see the evidence as clearly as we do.

In support of this charge, we have filed evidence and in some cases separate charges involving things that happened our newsrooms before and directly after the union vote. One charge alleges that managers violated federal law during the organizing drive by using surveillance and interrogation to find out which employees were sympathetic to the union. Another documents changes in annual reviews and raises throughout the unit.

Our contention is that the layoffs were part of a pattern in which supporters of the management were rewarded and supporters of the Guild were punished.
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An investigator for the National Labor Relations Board in Oakland has found insufficient evidence to uphold charges of retaliatory layoffs by the Bay Area News Group-East Bay. The Guild intends to appeal the decision.

The layoffs were announced a few days after the June 13 Guild election victory created the BANG-EB Unit. Among the 29 Guild-covered employees who were dismissed were unit chair Sara Steffens and two others, Rebecca Rosen Lum and Geoffrey Lepper, who were visible and active during the organizing campaign.

The Northern California Media Workers immediately filed unfair labor practice charges in connection with the layoffs. Evidence presented by the union suggested a pattern of anti-union actions by the employer, in several instances violating the union rights of the employees. The management said it was acting out of business considerations.

The decision by the Oakland region allows the Guild until Dec. 12 to seek a review by appealing to Washington, D.C., NLRB headquarters.

Read Contra Costa Times coverage of the ruling here and an Editor and Publisher story here.

It’s official. We’ve negotiated a legal settlement with management that sets our election details.

We thought we would get only three or four polling places, so we were really happy to sign off on seven. The preferred location for you to vote is based on your regular work site, but you’re free to vote at any other location within the designated time.

Voting times for each location follow…

Antioch: 2-4 p.m.
Fremont: 1-3 p.m.
Hayward: 9-11 a.m.
Oakland: 9-11 a.m.
Pleasanton (Spring St.): 1-3 p.m.
Richmond: 10 a.m.-noon
Walnut Creek: 10 a.m.–noon and 4-7 p.m.

We asked the company for an alternate voting day for those on vacation or otherwise unable to make it to work that day, but we didn’t get it. So if you don’t work on Friday, or if you have a planned day off, you will not get another opportunity to vote…

We hope that won’t stop you. This is it. The future of our guild hinges on your willingness to take the time to come to the polls.

To ensure you vote is counted, please plan ahead. The company has said it will make time during the work day for everyone to vote, but you need to know in advance where you will vote, and what times your poll is open. (more…)

In the wake of our filing of a petition and signature cards calling for Guild representation, the National Labor Relations Board’s Oakland staff has scheduled a hearing for next week at which some of us and some company representatives will testify about the parameters of the bargaining unit – who’s in, who’s not. And once that’s hashed out, we expect that an election date will be set. (more…)

First, a large number of eligible employees in our workplace must sign a card
saying they want to be represented by the Guild in negotiating the terms and
conditions of employment with MediaNews. (more…)