Guild Members Authorize Union-Tribune Strike; Talks Labeled Hopeless

In an emotional and contentious meeting Thursday night, members of the San Diego Newspaper Guild voted to authorize a strike against the Union-Tribune Publishing Co. after its leaders said that contract negotiations were hopeless in their bitter dispute with the newspaper company.

George Flynn, a Guild negotiator, said 371 members voted to sanction a strike, while 103 opposed it. The vote authorized the union’s bargaining committee to call a strike at 12:01 a.m. Dec. 23, if there is no progress in upcoming contract talks with management. A negotiating session is scheduled for Monday.

The Union-Tribune Publishing Co. publishes the San Diego Union, a morning paper, and the San Diego Tribune, an afternoon edition. The papers’ combined daily circulation is more than 374,000, and 411,000 on Sunday.

The 474 people who voted represent less than half of the union’s membership. About 1,150 Guild members have worked without a contract since June, 1988, and have not had a pay increase in two years. The contract negotiations have been acrimonious, with the Guild singling out publisher Helen Copley for criticism, charging that she is determined to break the union.

In May, the National Labor Relations Board accused the Union-Tribune of 25 federal labor law violations. The allegations against the company are being heard in an administrative hearing. NLRB officials have also accused the Guild of unfair labor practices for filing grievances when six employees withdrew from the union and the company ended their dues checkoff.

Guild members packed a meeting room at the Stardust Hotel and spilled into an adjoining lobby as they heard officials from their bargaining committee argue for strike authorization. Besides reporters, the Guild represents employees in the circulation and advertising departments.

Although union leaders argued that Dec. 23 would be the best time to strike because the membership is well-organized now, several members expressed concern about their futures and wondered if a strike would be successful when there has been no progress at the bargaining table.

“I haven’t heard anything that would guarantee us that we would win,” one member said. “Why would a strike force management to give us a contract when they’ve consistently refused to negotiate?”

Others wondered if the strike was being called too late to really hurt the company. They argued that a strike should have been called before Thanksgiving, when advertising revenue increases dramatically.

“The last thing we want to do is strike. . . . But we’ve got to let the publisher know that we’re damn well prepared to do that,” Guild President Ed Jahn said.

Jahn and other Guild leaders called for a strike authorization without receiving assurances from other unions at the company that they would honor the strike. The typographical and mailers unions are also negotiating with the Union-Tribune.

The typographical workers have been working without a contract since August, 1987, and the mailers have worked without a contract since August, 1986, and have not received a pay raise since February, 1986. The pressmen’s union reached agreement on a new contract last month with the Union-Tribune.

Union-Tribune officials have prepared for a strike by having managers put out mock editions. Last week management promised to replace striking employees by advertising for replacement workers. The company reportedly began advertising for workers on Thursday in some East Coast papers.