Judge:
SB paper violated laws
SANTA BARBARA (AP) — The Santa Barbara
News-Press and owner Wendy McCaw violated federal labor laws in firing eight
reporters for union activities, a judge has ruled.
Administrative
Law Judge William G. Kocol issued the 75-page
decision last week, writing that the newspaper demonstrated “widespread,
general disregard for the fundamental rights of the employees” and ordered the
reporters reinstated with back pay.
“This
decision really is all-encompassing; it’s everything we wanted it to be,” said
Melinda Burns, the first of the reporters to be fired.
The
National Labor Relations Board had alleged in a 15-count unfair labor practices
complaint that the paper fired the eight workers who had no history of
disciplinary action until after they began to fight for union representation.
Attorneys
for McCaw and the newspaper said they were “extremely disappointed” with the
ruling, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Messages
left with McCaw’s spokeswoman and attorneys Tuesday night were not immediately
returned.
McCaw
and other newspaper managers testified during hearings that concerns about
biased reporting led to the dismissal of Burns and Anna Davison, who was let go
in January 2007.
The
judge also ruled that the paper had spied on reporters’ union activities,
forced them to remove anti-McCaw buttons and wrongly fired a fellow supervisor.
Kocol also ordered new evaluations for
Davison and three colleagues, whom he says were given poor performance reviews
and denied bonuses for their union ties.
The
News-Press has been steeped in controversy since July 2006, when an escalating
dispute between McCaw and staff spilled into public view as nearly every top
editor quit to protest what they said was the owner’s interference with
coverage.
McCaw
shot back with a front-page note to readers saying those who quit were upset
they could no longer inject their personal opinions into the newspaper.
Newsroom
employees voted overwhelmingly that September to form a union.
The workers and the paper have been clashing since then
over the legitimacy of the vote, which was certified by the Labor Relations
Board last year.