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Yahoo!In a letter to National Labor Relations Board Chairman Robert J. Battista, Rep. Lois Capps joined Rep. George Miller (D-CA) in urging the NLRB to pick up the pace in resolving the pending cases before it, including the situation involving the newsroom employees of the Santa Barbara News-Press. The urging comes in light of a recent report by the NLRB Inspector General, which shows a significant delay in the Board issuing decisions and in providing remedies under the National Labor Relations Act.
The letter then went on to specifically mention the labor battle currently being fought at the News-Press. Newsroom employees at the paper voted 33-6 to join the Teamsters Union on Sept. 27 of last year. The newspaper filed objections to the election, which an NLRB administrative law judge overruled in March. The News-Press has appealed the decision, and the two sides are waiting for the NLRB to act on the matter. “The NLRB should move in a timely manner to resolve the News-Press case and all other certification cases,” the joint letter stated. “Delay in such cases undermines the Act, with a disparate impact on employees particularly in cases where it is found that the election complied with the law and the employees chose union representation.”
In the letter, the two “do not take a position on the merits of the News-Press case or similar election certification cases before the board,” but Capps has publicly spoken about the newspaper’s plight before. In March, during a rally in De La Guerra Plaza, Capps told the crowd gathered there she was “very concerned about what has been happening to our community’s paper. We are losing a valuable resource for our community and that deeply saddens me.” In her speech, Capps spoke of the reporters’ right to organize, and how important workers’ rights — such as decent pay, working conditions and fair employment practices — are carried out through the collective bargaining process.
After six News-Press employees left on July 6 of last year, alleging that owner Wendy McCaw was meddling in the news, the paper’s remaining employees approached the Graphics Communications Conference about forming a union to improve working conditions.
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OK, if no one else wants to take a stand here, I will. Regarding 'Slow-Moving Labor Board Gets Flack From Congress', in this usage it should be spelled 'flak,' as in what a flak jacket protects you from. The spelling 'flack' is reserved for Agnes Huff.
Helena_Handbasket (anonymous profile)
July 25, 2007 at 11:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great point, Helena. A quick check of Webster's Online shows flack to be a variant of flak, but interestingly not the other way around. So, we go with your correction.
webadmin (Indy Staff)
July 25, 2007 at 10:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Did you get your subpoena yet? Wendy's attorney Barry Cappello has served over 70 of us to answer questions in court about life at De La Guerra Plaza. Not quite sure how they figure this will help their case, but it should be interesting.
If you can take a few minutes out of your busy day next week (August 13 - 17th), please show your support for the journalists and editors whose lives have been disrupted by Lady McCaw and Lord Von Wiesenberger by congregating at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court (1415 State Street). The media will be there in force and this is an excellent opportunity to let the community and the nation know that the citizens of Santa Barbara do not condone the actions of Wendy McCaw and demand justice.
emptynewsroom (anonymous profile)
August 6, 2007 at 1:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Given that the NLRB's backlog of cases has been steadily falling over the last few years, Reps. Capps and Miller should be ashamed for signing their names to the union's letter.
The NLRB backlog of cases dropped from 602 in December 2002 to 305 in September 2006, a 49.3 percent decrease!
"The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"
Roy (anonymous profile)
August 7, 2007 at 6:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Flash, NLRB pending case load drops for 5th straight year!
Do Reps. Capps and Miller realize that the NLRB issued 391 decisions during FY 2007 (ending 9/30/07)? Pending case inventory went down from 305 to 207!!!!!! The Board also reduced 98.3% (58 of 59) of targeted representation cases, and 84.2% (181 of 215) of targeted unfair labor practice cases.
Don't believe me? Go read all about it at www.nlrb.gov.
Capps and Miller need something else to do.
Roy (anonymous profile)
November 14, 2007 at 11:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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