Guild over three years without contract at Eugene Register-Guard


EUGENE - Suzi Prozanski, copy editor at the Eugene Register-Guard since 1984 and past president of the Newspaper Guild, quit her job at the newspaper July 3.

She hasn't lost conviction in the rightness of her union's long-running fight; she's lost respect for her employer. The Newspaper Guild, an affiliate of the Communication Workers of America, represents 150 workers at the paper - reporters, photographers, copy editors and workers in the business office, ad department and information systems. They have been without a union contract for over three years.

Prozanski said a formerly good labor-management relationship soured after Tony Baker, grandson of the paper's founder, took the reins of the family-owned paper in the late 1980s. "There was an incredible difference in the way his father and uncle treated the newsroom," Prozanski said.

In 1997, the Guild attempted to add about 100 part-time workers at the paper to the existing bargaining unit. Baker hired Nashville attorney L. Michael Zinser to lead the campaign against the union. The Guild lost by two votes. Pleased with that outcome, Baker then hired Zinser to negotiate union contracts.

Zinser has made a career out of representing newspapers against unions. On his Web site he brags of negotiating a $6 an hour wage cut for Teamsters in Kansas, helping defeat union drives in Hawaii and Las Vegas, and helping win decertification of six separate unions at the Houston Chronicle and one at the Spokane Spokesman-Review. With Zinser flying in once every six weeks to represent the Register-Guard, little negotiation has taken place in three years, Prozanski said.

Meanwhile, about 60 workers in the circulation department decided they wanted a union too, and called Teamsters Local 206. Stefan Ostrach, assigned to help them organize, said it was the most "eager-to-join-a-union" group of workers he'd ever seen. At the first informational meeting, 30 workers showed up, and signed union cards despite Ostrach's warning of the dangers and difficulties ahead.

Soon thereafter, other workers signed up. Management immediately counter-attacked, firing one union activist and committing numerous other violations of labor law. The union complained to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which reacted with unusual vigor, issuing an injunction ordering the company to recognize the union, even though no election had occurred. The company refused, and the case moved quickly through the NLRB process and out to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the order.

The court found publisher Tony Baker personally responsible for creating an anti-union climate. The paper has been forced to recognize the union, but still has not bargained a contract. The NLRB is now considering beginning contempt of court proceedings, which could result in the paper being fined.

Two other bargaining units at the paper - 30 typographical workers of CWA and two dozen press operators with the Graphic Communications International Union - have contracts in place.

The Teamsters and the Guild continue to fight, and have attempted to pressure the paper with appeals to the community. With money from the national organization, the Guild was able to hire a campaign organizer. Countless supporters have written letters to the editor, though none have been published. On May 1, 250 members and supporters rallied in front of the paper's offices. In mid-July protesters showed up outside a talk Baker was giving at the Eugene Hilton, prompting some in his audience to appeal to him to settle the dispute.

"It's a fight that has to be fought because this is our community's newspaper," Ostrach said. "The first two generations created a very good name for the company in this area. Now they have the image of corporate lawbreakers."

"They're starting to look really bad in the community," said Adele Berlinski, who was elected to replace Prozanski in December.

"What they hope is that the union will fall apart," Berlinski said.

In bargaining, a handful of issues still separate the sides. Management wants a policy that e-mail not be used for union business, though it's allowed for personal business. The company also wants a management rights clause that would allow changes in work conditions without consulting the union. The company also has pushed for a 9 percent pay cut in the circulation department and a wage freeze in the advertising department.


August 2, 2002 issue

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