From Editor & Publisher, July 27

York Daily Record, in Contract Proposal, Wants to Silence Criticism From Workers

By Joe Strupp

There's not a newspaper in the country where reporters and editors, at some time or another, haven't spouted off about what they didn't like about the place. Work-related griping over a beer at the neighborhood tavern -- or nowadays in an e-mail among colleagues -- is as common as spin control from a political flak.

But if the York Daily Record has its way, such outspoken opinions, either in the newsroom or at a nearby watering hole, may become a fireable offense. Among several proposals in the latest contract offer to Daily Record guild members is a provision that would ban disparagement of the company by employees.

"People are horrified," said Lauri Lebo, unit chair for the York Local 38218 of the Newspaper Guild, which received the proposal earlier this month. "I actually shrieked when I read it."

The Guild local oversees two units at the Daily Record and a third unit at the cross-town York Dispatch. Both Record units are under a three-year contract that ends Sept. 30, while the Dispatch unit's agreement does not expire until next year.

Negotiations for the two Record units, which represent nearly 90 employees, began July 18, according to Local President Michelle Canty. She said two sessions have been held, with two more scheduled for late August.

Among several company proposals that have drawn employee is a one-line provision in a long list of prohibited activities that bars "disparagement of the company whether this occurs on or off company property."

"A lot of members are really upset about that," said Canty, a four-year employee. "Management cannot tell you what your opinion can be. We all have days that an editor gets on our nerves or we don't like the way the paper did something. They shouldn't be able to control thoughts or opinions."

Record Publisher Fred Uffelman, who also serves as president of the York Newspaper Company that runs the Record-Dispatch joint operating agreement, declined to comment on the contract talks or the no-disparagement provision. He said negotiations are handled by King & Ballow, the Tennessee-based law firm.

King & Ballow negotiators could not be reached for comment. William Dean Singleton, vice-chair and CEO of MediaNews Group, which owns the Daily Record, did not return calls late Tuesday, July 26 or the morning of Wednesday, July 27.

The no-disparagement clause appears to be an unusual element in guild contracts, according to union leaders elsewhere. "I've never heard of anything like that," said Michael Cabanatuan, president of the Northern California Media Workers Guild, which recently struck a new contract deal with the San Francisco Chronicle. "It sounds pretty overboard and a violation of the First Amendment."

Tim Schick, administrator for the Providence Newspaper Guild, agreed: "It boils down to management's attempt to censor the speech of employees beyond what is acceptable."

Schick noted that such clauses are often inserted in settlement agreements following labor disputes with individuals, but not collective bargaining agreements.

According to the union, management's three-year contract offer also includes other provisions the guild opposes, such as:

"They don't want the union to be here," said Canty. "They are trying to push us into a strike, which is not something we want to do. They want to break the union."

Guild officials are seeking a three-year deal with raises of 10% the first year and 9.5% for each of the following years. The union also wants to extend bereavement leave, add sick time, and more holidays, including Super Bowl Sunday.

At least one Daily Record reporter, Mike Hoover, doesn't see the management proposals as a serious concern. A seven-year employee, Hoover contends that many of the newspaper's requests, including the no-disparagement clause, are first-offer posturing. "I think it will get thrown out, it is a negotiating tactic," he said of the disparagement provision. "It is testing the mettle of the union."

The contract talks are the first such negotiations since the Daily Record and Dispatch effectively swapped owners just over a year ago. Prior to May 2004, MediaNews Group owned the afternoon Dispatch and the local Buckner family ran the Daily Record.

Due to a provision in the JOA, MediaNews had an option during 2004 to buy the Daily Record for a previously agreed upon price. If the company did not make the purchase, Buckner could have forced the purchase at anytime between 2005 and 2007.

While MediaNews Group bought the Daily Record, for about $38 million, it basically give the Dispatch to Phil Buckner, receiving no cash for the paper and guaranteeing Buckner a $2 million annual profit. The two papers also restructured the JOA to end in 2024, much earlier than the previous 2090 date.

Another element of the swap, which angered some employees, involved the transfer of 19 employees from the Dispatch to the Daily Record. Since then, both papers have lost even more staffers, said Canty, who contends that morale has been down in both newsrooms ever since.