Date set for San Bernardino Sun union election

Newsroom employees at the San Bernardino Sun will decide on July 7 whether to establish a union. The National Labor Relations Board has identified 17 employees as eligible to vote in the election. Senior Editor Kim Guimarin sent two memos (here and here) outlining the process and making clear that management does not want the newsroom to unionize. From the memo:

As we have shared, during the next five weeks there will be a series of informational meetings during which you will learn more about the process, i.e., voting procedures, union representation, and the union itself, the collective bargaining process, and why it is in your best interest as well as the Sun's to cast a ballot on June 7 and vote NO.

The Sun is owned by the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a division of Denver-based MediaNews Group.

Shop talk at the San Bernardino Sun

Reporters have begun organizing a union effort at the San Bernardino Sun, two sources tell me. This means contacting union representatives and circulating cards for an election. I don't know how far along they've gotten, but LANG, the paper's owner, has taken notice. At least two executives talked to management at the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the Sun's sister paper, about how a bad union would be. More when I hear it...

Back to Orange

After Friday's delivery troubles, the Los Angeles Times has restarted the presses at its Orange County facility, only days after shutting the plant down.

Needless to say, the Times' pressmen are not happy - but are trying to keep cool.

Four today

1. The New York Times wants to make it easier to search through the millions of tweets on Twitter. Mediaweek

2. J-school enrollment rises even as jobs disappear - and fuddy-duddy professor still think ethics and standards should be emphasized over gadgetry. Chronicle of Higher Education

3. Do newsroom unions have a useful role to play as newspapers decline? Alan Mutter

4. Spot.us comes to LA with a little help from USC. Nieman Lab

Knife sharpening in San Francisco

The union representing workers at the San Francisco Chronicle says management plans to cut more jobs. How many and when are still unknowns.

From the SF Weekly:

When asked how many layoffs were possible, [guild rep Carl] Hall noted "Obviously that's the question everyone wants to know." He also added that no reason was given for the paper's announcement other than "what one might infer: I guess it's a continuing problem of getting costs in line with revenues given the state of the economy and the goings on in the news business."

Guild gets peek at Tribune bonus plan

A judge ruled today that the union representing newspaper workers at Tribune Co. will be able to look at the company's proposal to hand out $70 million in bonuses to top managers.

From AP:

The judge agreed to allow the Chicago-based company to keep under seal a compensation consultant's report underlying the bonus plan and said information to be shared by the Tribune will be restricted.

"It's going only to the Guild," Carey ruled, denying the Guild's request to share the information with other unions, including those that joined in its objection to the bonus plan. ...

The company defended the proposed bonuses, saying they are based on specific performance targets and are needed to retain key employees facing significant industry challenges while working toward a successful reorganization. The bonuses, the company said, will help attract top-tier management talent if needed.

Boston Globe union, New York Times reach deal

Poynter reports that the last holdout union representing Boston Globe employees has reached a tentative deal with the paper's owner, the New York Times Co. If members agree to the contract on July 20, they'd lose six percent of their pay and some would lose their lifetime job guarantee.

Globe to NYT: This is a contract we can refuse

The union at the Boston Globe voted 277-265 today to reject a wage and benefit cuts requested by the paper's owner, the New York Times Co.

The New York Times reports:

After weeks of labor tension and 12 hours of suspenseful voting, members of the Newspaper Guild at the Boston Globe narrowly rejected a proposed package of wage and compensation cuts, despite a threat from the newspaper’s owner, The New York Times Company, that such a rejection could precipitate a unilateral, 23 percent cut in pay.

The Boston Herald's lede is a little feistier:

The Boston Globe’s biggest union last night refused to bow to contract concessions demanded by its New York corporate masters in a high-risk slap that dares management to make good on threats to impose a 23-percent pay cut or even shutter the struggling broadsheet.

Furlough fever

In a "special report," Joe Strupp at Editor & Publisher looks at the furlough trend that swept through many newspaper chains earlier this year, as already decimated newsrooms looked for ways to save money without more layoffs:

In nearly every case, at least where furloughs are concerned, guild members have to approve the unpaid time off in order for it to take effect. Most guilds are going along with the idea, at least for the moment, with many members saying their newsrooms have been cut enough and don't want to have to work in a further depleted office — or worse, lose their jobs.

"It is the best of a terrible range of options," says Tom Spalding, president of the Indianapolis Newspaper Guild and a business reporter at the Gannett-owned Indianapolis Star. "You keep your job, your insurance, and the pay cut is not permanent."

-snip-

But while many of those affected are willing to give up a little here and there to keep their jobs, the impact of cut salaries, frozen retirement funds and unpaid time off takes a psychological toll. "People come out of this very conflicted," says Jane Halpert, a psychologist who specializes in work-related issues at De Paul University. "They see all of the people who are losing their jobs and they still have a job, but at the same time they are being nickeled and dimed. And the paper tries to present this as a good thing — more days off. But it is not a vacation; it is temporary short-term unemployment."

Strupp goes on to report that unions increasingly demand newspaper owners open the books before they'll agree to absorb more benefit cuts. After the guild at the Denver Post combed through Dean Singleton's financials, they agreed to wage cuts of 6% to 9% and seven-day furloughs in each of the next three years.

LA cops bust on Union-Tribune

The union representing police officers in Los Angeles wants the San Diego Union-Tribune to make its editorial page more union friendly, even if it means firing the editorial writers.

Why would LA cops try to meddle with San Diego's newspaper? Because the paper's new owner, Platinum Equity of Beverly Hills, "relies on a $30-million investment from the pension fund of Los Angeles police officers and fire fighters, along with large sums from other public-employee pension systems around the state, to help fund its acquisitions of companies."

From the Los Angeles Times:

As [police union] League President Paul M. Weber views it, that makes the League part owner in the flagging Tribune and League officials are none to happy with the paper’s consistent position that San Diego lawmakers should cut back on salaries and benefits for public employees in order to help close gaping budget deficits.

"Since the very public employees they continually criticize are now their owners, we strongly believe that those who currently run the editorial pages should be replaced," Weber wrote in a March 26 letter to Platinum CEO Tom Gores.

The newspaper's editor was more than a little cool to the idea, and Platinum officials said they won't interfere with the paper's editorial decisions.

Globe shutdown averted, Senate hearing goes on

The unions representing workers at the Boston Globe have agreed to steep wage and benefit cuts and that should keep the New York Times Co. from shutting down the Boston newspaper anytime soon.

Meantime, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry has scheduled a hearing for today at 11:30 a.m. PST to discuss the future of journalism in light of the turmoil at the Globe and elsewhere. As has become obligatory, the panel will include a representative from Google and Huffington Post co-founder Arianna Huffington.

Also slated to speak are David Simon, creator of "The Wire" and former Baltimore Sun reporter; Steve Coll, president of the New America Foundation and former managing editor of the Washington Post; Dallas Morning News Publisher James Moroney, and Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Chu gets labor support

Two of the most powerful unions in Southern California, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor and Service Employees International Union, have endorsed state Board of Equalization chairwoman Judy Chu to succeed Rep. Hilda Solis in Congress, assuming Solis is confirmed as President Obama's secretary of labor.

The endorsements give Chu an early advantage over state Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-East Los Angeles, who also plans to run for the seat.

New year's ultimatum

Dean Singleton has given the unions representing about 1,230 employees at the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News until Jan. 16 to agree to $20 million in cuts or face "even worse consequences." Singleton apparently needs the savings so he can renegotiate terms on $130 million in loans.

Shop talk

TellZell is exhorting his/her/their colleagues at the LA Times to meet tonight at the Redwood Bar & Grill to discuss unionizing and other ways to push back against job cuts. Also, talk of more newsroom cuts continues to pick up steam. Here's what TZ has to say about it:

By now, most of you have heard the rumors of another round of layoffs. There are many different flavors. Some say Sam wants the paper at 600 editorial staffers. Others say 550. Whatever the case, we're talking about another hundred or more jobs cut. Do you feel lucky?

Meanwhile, union reps are trying to stir up interest at the non-union LANG newspapers. The local guild making visits to the Daily Breeze in Torrance and the Sun in San Bernardino.

Set the controls for the heart of the Sun

A little over a week ago the Southern California Media Guild stopped by the Daily Breeze. Now union organizers have paid a visit to the San Bernardino Sun.

Over at the guild's blog, the Stress Telegram, some signs of frustration between Long Beach and Torrance.

Labor pains

The union representing editorial employees at BANG-East Bay has filed a complaint against MediaNews over recent staff reductions. From the AP:

The union representing news staff at a group of San Francisco-area newspapers filed an unfair labor practice charge Tuesday over the layoff of some union organizers two weeks ago amid a 13 percent staff cut.

The Northern California Media Workers Guild said in a filing with the National Labor Relations Board that managers chose employees to lay off based on their union activity. Marshall Anstandig, general counsel for the partnership that owns the papers, called the charge "ridiculous."

Guild lobbies Daily Breeze*, **

Organizers with the Southern California Media Guild, which represents journalists at the Long Beach Press-Telegram, were outside the Daily Breeze offices in Torrance today. I'm told they handed out fliers and talked about the bad things MediaNews has done as part of its Southern California consolidation strategy.

One of those decisions was to place P-T editorial under Breeze management, which didn't go over very well in Long Beach.

The Breeze is the most recent addition to LANG. Since most of the workers there were hired back when the more generous Copley Press ran the place, I don't expect the organizing effort will gain much traction.

*Meanwhile, Inkstainedretch over Tell Zell is trying to launch a union drive at the Los Angeles Times.

**Correction: The fliers referenced the bad things that happened under MediaNews, not the organizers. My mistake.

Union maybe*

Let the nail biting begin. Newsroom employees of the Bay Area Newspaper Group-East Bay - aka BANG-EB - head to the makeshift polls today to vote on unionization. A simple majority will decide the outcome.

*Results should be available at 7 p.m. on the papers' Web sites.

The election has been hotly contested. Group publisher John Armstrong went so far as set up an internal Web site to knock down pro-union arguments. One of his most ardent anti-union supporters was business reporter George Avalos. To get an idea of the level of distrust here, read what he had to say on June 3 in a response to another comment on the internal Web site:

I suggested there were two REAL reasons for the union's incursion into the East Bay news rooms.

The initial reason I gave was there are more than a few folks who want to settle some sort of score with Dean Singleton because they apparently hate him.

I also hinted there was another reason

I believe the primary reason for this is the union wants to use CCN and ANG journalists as pawns in a membership drive.

Unions have watched haplessly as perhaps thousands of members were dismissed or took buy outs in recent years because of newspaper job cuts.

So union bosses they need fresh bodies that they can coerce into paying dues.

Also: Meanwhile, back down south, union members at the Long Beach Press-Telegram once again rallied alongside city officials as they work to unstall contract negotiations with the Los Angeles Newspaper Group - LANG.