Union-Tribune Fires Guild Negotiator; Employees Describe Move as Scare Tactic

A negotiator for the San Diego Newspaper Guild, which is engaged in a bitter contract dispute with the Union-Tribune Publishing Co., has been fired for alleged wrongdoing, and the union has charged that the firing was staged to intimidate its members.

Nancy Tetrault, a 10-year employee of the circulation department, was fired Friday, about three weeks after she was placed on indefinite suspension. According to local guild President Ed Jahn, Tetrault was charged with keeping subscription receipts and converting them to personal use.

Tetrault was a district manager, responsible for overseeing circulation in East San Diego. Union-Tribune officials say $400 to $1,000 is unaccounted for, and they have accused Tetrault of stealing the money, Jahn said.

Jahn and other union officials have mounted an aggressive defense on Tetrault’s behalf and have charged that the firing was politically motivated. Guild officials denied that Tetrault stole the receipts and argued that the publishing company fabricated a reason for firing her because she was an aggressive and passionate negotiator in talks with company officials and in promoting the guild’s cause before community groups.

“She was certainly a very important member of the (bargaining) committee. . . . There is no doubt in my mind they are trying to intimidate the guild,” Jahn said. “It’s a thinly veiled attempt by the company to scare people. It’s almost as if they’re trying to provoke us into doing something.”

Besides being a member of the five-person bargaining team, Tetrault is on the union’s executive board.

Union-Tribune officials were not available for comment Wednesday. But last week Union-Tribune Editor-in-Chief Herbert Klein said that Tetrault was suspended for “conduct on the job.” Klein also denied charges by union officials that her suspension was related to her union activities.

The guild’s contract with the Union-Tribune expired in June, and negotiations between both sides have been stalemated for the past four months. Jahn said the union considers Tetrault’s firing “a serious escalation in the matter.”

Serious Problems

Union officials admitted that there were serious problems in Tetrault’s circulation district, but attributed them to the economic difficulties found in East San Diego. Many subscribers failed to pay the company’s carriers, but Union-Tribune officials accused Tetrault of pocketing the unpaid receipts, Jahn said.

Jahn said he has asked company officials to show him proof that Tetrault kept the unaccounted receipts, but they have refused.

“They’ve stonewalled it. . . . We’ve asked to see receipts that prove that Tetrault is a liar and thief,” he said. “They’ve refused because they don’t have any evidence whatsoever. . . . They’ve ruined her reputation and her livelihood with these unsubstantiated charges.”