On the Beat
Thursday, November 6, 2008
News-Press Prosecuted: You surely won’t see this on Page One of the Santa Barbara News-Press, but the feds are prosecuting the paper once more on violations of labor laws.
Using temporary employees was a “ruse” by the News-Press “central to its longstanding plan to devastate union support among newsroom employees by dishonestly diminishing the numbers of people it contended were in the unit,” said Teamsters attorney Ira Gottlieb.
He called it a “transparent charade.”
On the Beat
Even though newsroom employees voted more than two years ago to affiliate with the Teamsters, many have since left due to working conditions or been illegally fired. A common anti-union tactic is to reduce the number of employees in a workplace, then seek to disqualify the union.
In the new charge, the NLRB’s attorney “has determined after a lengthy investigation and deliberation” that the agency shall prosecute the paper for hiring and deploying newsroom employees through an employment agency, to perform the same work done by union-represented employees, in a putative “temporary” capacity, though they may have performed in that capacity for as many as 16 months, according to Gottlieb. A hearing is scheduled for February 23.
Gottlieb said the NLRB complaint alleges that the paper violated the law by refusing to bargain over the temps' terms and conditions of employment, paying them less than the people in the bargaining unit, and transferring bargaining unit work outside the unit.
The paper “has sought and continues to seek to unilaterally decrease the number of newsroom employees represented by the union, while still having others it disingenuously claimed were outside the unit performing the same newsroom work, in unprecedented fashion,” Gottlieb said.
"With the curtain finally raised exposing this longstanding cynical maneuver by the News-Press, perhaps the newspaper will decide it must obey the law. We hope that management will treat all employees who work in the newsroom fairly and equitably and will no longer use this artifice to decimate the union-represented group for obvious and illegal anti-union reasons,” Gottlieb added.
The National Labor Relations Board’s attorney also plans to prosecute the paper for bad faith bargaining. Related labor law violations, which have accumulated during the past year, while negotiations have dragged on with little progress, include laying off one alleged temp without bargaining; failure/refusal to timely provide information about the temps; assigning a non-unit person (Robert Eringer) to perform bargaining unit work as an "investigative reporter”; discontinuing the annual raise policy for 2006 and 2007; discontinuing the annual evaluations policy; suspending and firing Dennis Moran and refusing to bargain over those decisions.
The NLRB is still investigating the News-Press concerning failure and delay in providing information requested by the Teamsters, interference with the NLRB's investigative process by (owner) Wendy McCaw, and refusal to bargain over mandatory subjects of bargaining.
Risked His Life: Jed Pace, who tends the cycads garden at Lotusland and also the son of former News-Press reporter Dawn Hobbs, recently found himself faced with a life-or-death crisis in southern Mexico.
While with a group of naturalists on an eco-tour studying cycads in a remote area, Pace, 19, was alerted to cries for help from Art, a 60-year-old colleague from England.
Running a long distance through a thicket of tall grass and vines, Pace found Art on his back, being swarmed by thousands of Africanized bees. He had “a hundred bees on his face” and was being repeatedly stung. Pace said he knew Art would die if not rescued, but Art wasn’t able to stand due to approximately 500 stings. “They go for your face,” Pace said.
Disregarding the danger to himself, Pace said he dived in and pulled the man away by his armpits, suffering 75 to 100 stings himself. “He saved the man’s life,” Hobbs told me. After dragging the man back to the rest of the group, Pace and others got him to a hospital, where both were treated. A third man who had been swarmed at the same location suffered about 300 stings, but managed to stumble away before Pace arrived. All three recovered soon and Pace is back at work at Lotusland. “I’m fine now,” he said.
Parker Hotel: In case you’re wondering about the lack of progress on Fess Parker’s waterfront resort, on Santa Barbara’s East Cabrillo Boulevard, it’s awaiting financing, I’m told. You can see the site preparation work, but little else. Reason: the economic downturn has made financing projects difficult at best. But work on his 100-bed youth hostel, donated to the city as part of the approval process for the resort, is moving along well, according to his people.
Janis Back: Friends of Janis Clapoff, former GM at the Santa Barbara Biltmore, San Ysidro Ranch, and Simpson House Inn, is back after good times running Hawaii’s best hotel, the Halekulani in Waikiki. We wondered where she was going to land and can now report that she’s running the top-drawer Ojai Valley Inn. According to Ed Galsterer, former public relations person at the Biltmore and now on his own in PR, she’s loving it. “It’s a great property,” he told me.
Ed also says that Michellene Parker, granddaughter-in-law of Fess Parker, and Sarah Longoria, daughter of winemaker par excellence Rick Longoria, have opened a “natural baby boutique” in Solvang called June Bug. It will focus on natural products including glass bottles, cloth diapers, organic bedding, wooden and cloth toys, nursing supplies, natural bath care products for mother and child, and more.
Adios, Circuit City: Interesting that it’s closing on Upper State Street just as major competitor Best Buy is reportedly planning to open out at Goleta’s Marketplace. Circus City, as some dub it, has had things its own way for many years, though. And Sue and I have spent so much there over the years they should have reserved a private room for us, with Champagne. So, after CC and before BB? The word I hear is that Sears — yes, Sears — has an excellent selection of TVs.
Miramar Mayor: Rick Caruso, having won Montecito Planning Commission's okay for his Miramar Hotel rebuilding project, is still talking about maybe, possibly, perhaps running for L.A. mayor. He’s a Republican. His opponent would be incumbent Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat.
Linda Ronstadt: The last time I saw her was at a 1970s concert at UCSB’s Robertson Gym. I sat on the floor with son Barclay. I seem to recall her wearing a Cub Scout shirt. Now Linda’s back, not singing about a different drum but Songs of My Father (Canciones de mi Padre), Monday at 8 p.m. at the Arlington. Also scheduled with Linda: the dance troupe Ballet Folklorico Paso del Norte of El Paso. Sponsored by UCSB’s Arts & Lectures.
Barney Brantingham can be reached at barney@independent.com or (805) 965-5205. He writes online columns in addition to his Thursday column for the print edition.