Tribune Employees Talk: Retired Hartford Courant reporter to SEC: "Investigate this (sale) thoroughly"

Tribune Employees Talk: Retired Hartford Courant reporter to SEC: "Investigate this (sale) thoroughly"

Buy-Outs/Layoffs in the GCC/IBT Represented Los Angeles Times Pressrooms?

I spoke with GCC/IBT Organizer, Marty Keegan this morning regarding the announced "CUTS" at our Newspaper, The Los Angeles Times, and he informed me that as soon as he was aware of the proposed cut's here, he contacted GCC/IBT Lawyers in Washington D.C.

According to Marty and the GCC/IBT Attorneys, "we are safe from any cut's and or lay-offs" for the simple fact that we won our Election for Union Representation, and any buyouts or layoffs are subject to collective bargaining. If management wishes to offer buy-out's in our shops, they must negotiate the terms of the buy-out first. Any arbitrary actions taken by the Company without Union Representation for any involved Pressroom Employees will be grounds for unfair labor practice charges to be filed against the company. A "Buy-Out" is nothing more than a "Layoff" which results in staffing reductions. Staffing levels are a main bargaining issue and are subject to collective bargaining.

If offered to Pressroom employees at this time, any (Union Negotiated) buy-outs will NOT be viewed by "The Bargaining Unit"as an agreement with management in regards to resulting staffing levels after buy-out process is completed, and will consider staffing levels open for contract negotiations in collective bargaining .

We have yet to obtain any verifiable information as to whether any reductions are aimed at our pressrooms to begin with. We have no idea how many positions are targeted in production and the pressroom for that matter. I seem to remember our new Publisher, in his welcome to L.A. from Chicago meetings, state that he was aware of all the cuts we have faced in the pressrooms in the past. He mentioned the Northridge Facility closure specifically, and went on to give some reassurance that the production departments could not and would not be facing any more cut's this time around. I remember our new S.V.P. making the same statement in O.C. during the organizing campaign as well, I know many of you remember hearing the same.

I only wish that the Newsroom would have mobilized their workforce to organize as we have. It's never too late! I am deeply concerned for everyone else at our paper, because as "At Will" employees, there are absolutely no protections in place for our writers, editors, sales, composing, classified, production, maintainance, newsprint, platemaking, packaging and literally everyone else employed here at the Times. In my opinion, Middle Management is more vulnerable at this point in time than anyone, aside from editorial. There is a strong possibility that they're in Tribunes sites more than they have ever been in the past. We'll see how loyal Tribune Management is toward their supervisors for their anti-union efforts against us. You don't need to ask Jeff Johnson or Dean Baquet, or their latest departee, Mark Kurtich about "loyalty".

We anxiously await establishing contact with anyone who is interested in getting information to organize your fellow workers, in your respective departments and are willing to join us in the pressroom in our effort to restore the security of our jobs and benefits here at The Los Angeles Times. Any interested parties, regardless of what department you are employed, feel free to contact us, Pressman/Union Activist, Ronnie Pineda via e-mail at admin@saveourtrade.com or Pressman/Union Activist, Dave Rascon in Los Angeles at drascon@saveourtrade.com You may also contact GCC/IBT Organizer, Marty Keegan directly at marty7720@aol.com . Don't hesitate, No one stood up for us, so we stood up for ourselves! The Truth is we ALL need to stand together no matter which department we work in! Our voices will become even louder when we unite them throughout the company.

The Pressroom is Safer than it has ever been!

Let's help our brothers and sisters throughout The Company get the security we voted for! Unity, Education & Representation,

THERE IS NO OTHER WAY!

In Solidarity,

Ronnie

51st Annual North American Newspaper Conference

Los Angeles Pressroom Operator, Keith Denson and I were honored to represent the Men and Women of our Pressroom's at The Los Angeles Times during The 51st Annual North American Newspaper Conference in St.Pete Beach Florida, April 16,17 &18th, 2007.

We had the opportunity to meet many of the men and women who provide services and benefits for GCC/IBT members and look forward to having them come to L.A. and O.C. to share the wealth of information they possess.

Keith and I were humbled when introduced to the Conference and received a "standing ovation" for the organizing victory in our shops. That standing ovation was for each and every one of you who stood diligent in your beliefs and especially for those of you who literally stood up and participated in achieving our victory. You should all be proud of yourselves, because everyone at the Conference made it clear that they are proud of "ALL "of us who work in our Pressrooms.

I expressed our appreciation to GCC/IBT President George Tedeschi for not giving up on us and supporting our latest organizing campaign. I also had to give greater thanks to GCC/IBT Lead Organizer Marty Keegan for convincing President Tedeschi to do just that.

Keith and I spoke of all the Union Busting we have had to endure over the years in trying to organize our shops and the many changes we have endured as a result of trusting a management that shows no compassion for it's workers when it comes to cutting costs.

Keith and I were stunned by the show of solidarity and generosity displayed by all the Teamsters in attendance. Financial Aid was raised for many fellow Teamsters who have faced adversed conditions including terminations at the hands of their respective employers for organizing or supporting union representation.

We think we have been treated unfairly during past election campaigns but I was witness to stories of severe treatment toward individuals for attempting to organize their shops, but more importantly what The Teamsters are doing to help them. Compassion for fellow workers in our Trade is a "Value" that I saw in every person I had the pleasure of meeting at the Conference.

I will begin posting information from some of the speakers at this conference in seperate posts to create topic specific posts detailing each of their roles with The Teamsters and their areas of expertise, as well as the service they perform for both The Teamsters and their members.

I created two new links here on the blog and invite you to click on them to get a clear picture of what goes on in our industry (both good and bad) and how we can stand together to improve working conditions for everyone. These are only two examples of why the working class need representation and a "Collective Bargaining Agreement"

The eight writers who were fired by Wendy McCaw in Santa Barbara for standing up to her for compromising the integrity of their paper( The Santa Barbara News Press) by becoming too involved in content and eventually union activism have created their own local news website(santabarbaranewsroom.com) and are supported by their community by and large as well as by The GCC/IBT, so I encourage you to visit.

In Toledo, OH more than 200 full -time and part-time employees of "The Blade" entered their 8th month of being "ILLEGALLY" locked-out of their jobs in April. Visit their site (stoptheblade.com)and help if you can.

I attended an Organizing Seminar on April 14th at The UCLA Labor Center in Los Angeles and will also post information from that experience.

If you haven't sent in your survey yet, do so soon.

Unity and Solidarity will accomplish anything you can't accomplish alone!

In solidarity,

Ronnie

Hope you all like the new site. Thank's Albaro! Looks great and also thank's to Ed Padgett for all the photos. More photos from O.C. will soon be up for all to see.

No news on the meeting between Zell and Geffen. Hopefully it was fruitful in bringing ownership back to L.A.

I've added new links to the blog, so check them out and participate in the Tribune Action Network organized by freepress.net. A link to their site is now in the links column as well.

One last bit of news, I have scheduled my knee surgery for May 22nd and look forward to finally getting this knee fixed. I postponed my surgery twice last year for obvious reasons and it was worth it. I am in constant pain and can't tolerate it any longer, plus I am tired of looking like a one-sided cowboy! I will also be taller! I will continue to stay on top of events as they occur and do my best to help from home while recovering. I have the satisfaction of knowing that we are all safe from Tribune and that I will have a job to return to. That will speed my recovery immensly.

I'm on vacation currently and will be attending the North American Newspaper Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida on the 16th and 17th. L.A. Operator, Keith Denson and myself were invited by GCC President George Tedeschi and Marty Keegan to represent our shops here at The Times. All the representatives of newspapers from across the country will be in attendance and this will finally give us the opportunity to interact with our peers from our Trade.

We will bring back a bounty of information and support that will help us build our local and insure that we succeed in estasblishing a strong unified membership.

That's it for now!
Solidarirty!

Alot to cover, so let's get started. First, the thing that is on everyones mind is, how is the sale to Sam Zell going to affect our contract negotiations. We won the right to "collectively bargain" with our employer, whoever that may be, and we will. The pending sale is why the company challenged our election results to begin with, to explore offers for the company in part or as a whole, and obviously are in no hurry to meet us at the table. By filing "objections" with The N.L.R.B. in Washington the company is employing yet another stall tactic which will not prevent our election certification. I'm confident that Washington will agree with The Regional N.L.R.B. and rule in our favor.

This sale is not a done deal either. It faces approval from both The SEC and the FCC, due to cross ownership issues that are still under review. Also, until the sale is closed, counter offers for the company can still be made, so let's hope that some of the Los Angeles Billionares are willing to bump their offer and bring ownership back to L.A. I'm sure Burkle and Broad would be willing to sell The Chicago Tribune back to someone in Chicago. Would a Chicago owner be willing to sell The Times to a local owner? I hope that possibility comes to pass if a Chicago buyer prevails.

The decision regarding the companys objections to our election victory were released today, and as we predicted, the N.L.R.B. has "overruled" all 4 of the remaining objections filed. The company "dropped" objection #4 prior to the hearing.

This is great news and we still have to see what the companys next move may be. They have until March 30 to file "exceptions" to the N.L.R.B. decision. This is similar to an "appeal" and we don't feel that this will be nothing more than this hearing was, a stall tactic.

This is exciting because it puts us one step closer to the "bargaining table"
If you haven't completed and sent your survey back, do so soon and make sure that your voice is heard.

We hope to post the complete report on saveourtrade.com soon for all of you to view.

That's all for now!

Operator Albaro Albanez has offered to re-design and build us a new website. This was a welcome offer which I immediately accepted. Albaro has experience in web design and I can't wait to see what he has already prepared for our site.

Albaro will have full access to manage and edit the site and I'm sure he would welcome your suggestions for the website. I did my best with the limited website building and hosting knowledge I learned along the way and appreciate that all of you use the site for news and information.

Albaro and I will concentrate on creating a site that will provide current and "up to date" information and resources that can be accessed from our site. As I stated to some in the shops, I was reluctant to put very much information on the site prior to the N.L.R.B. Hearings for the fact that management frequently visits our site.

The new site is still "under construction" and will be launched soon. The "BLOG" has, and is going to continue to get attention to provide more links and "labor related" blog links to zero in on the subject.

Thank's Albaro!

We are hoping for the Regional Directors decision on Monday and if everything goes as it should, our election victory will be certified. As soon as the decision is made, I'm sure management will post that decision as well as their next move.

We will also put the decision here on saveourtrade.

Our Negotiation Team has been determined and they are:

In Los Angeles, 1st shift, Keith Denson, 2nd shift, Lance Farrar, and 3rd shift, David Rascon.

In Orange County, 1st shift, Chuck Reney, 2nd shift, Charles Laird, and 3rd shift, Ronnie Pineda.

Mike Bassett will serve as the alternate for L.A. and an alternate for O.C. is yet to be determined. There are several people who are interested and an alternate will be selected from those individuals soon.

Good news, We will be receiving our surveys before the weekend. They will be mailed out tomorrow, Tuesday Feb. 20th. Be sure to study it thoroughly and be sure to include any and all issues and concerns that you would like addressed in negotiations. I suggest that you write down those things you want in your contract so that you don't fail to include it in your survey.

If you have not been receiving the mailings from the Teamsters, You need to provide a current mailing address to insure that you receive the survey as well as all the literature and information that will be made available in the future. You can send it to this site and it will be forwarded to Marty to update the mailing database.

admin@saveourtrade.com

Look forward together!

I apologize for having not put any information up on the Blog for a short while. We understand that management visits this site on a regular basis looking for information that they can use against us. Five pages from this site were used in the hearings in an attempt by management to make one of their points. The Hearings were held on Thursday and Friday the 14th and 15th of Feb. at the N.L.R.B. offices in L.A. It doesn't appear that any of the companies objections will be sustained, thus we don't believe that the Regional Director will have any reason to set aside our election results and the results will be certified.

The Nominations for The Negotiation Committee Members are complete and those indivduals will be announced so that everyone will know who was willing to serve on the committee and participate in an election. The election information will be presented by Marty Keegan and be forthcoming. The surveys are also coming very soon.

Thats pretty much it for now, if you have any questions, you can contact me and we will get you answers quickly.

Your Brother in solidarity,
Ronnie Pineda

This is an open letter to the people at the Times, pro union, anti union, managers and anyone who cares to read it.

This is an actual account of something that recently happened at Newsday.
The company notified the union that our plate room was converting to CTP ( computer to plate) and the department was facing the loss of 11 jobs due to the new technology.
The union was concerned because they are all long term employees and our friends.
We understood that in this world things like this happen and its just a fact of life.
The people being downsized were going to receive severance packages and scheduled to be leaving in transition over a period over a few months.
We approached several managers at Newsday and asked if it was possible to allow people from other departments who were willing and wanted to leave instead could with the same severance package.Then we would replace them with people who were qualified and wanted to stay.
The primary concerns were that there would be no disruption of the operation and there would be no additional cost. Fair enough.
We agreed that Newsday would determine who was most qualified to replace the people who were leaving.
The union did the legwork before hand to make sure we had qualified people to apply for those positions.
The company made the effort to interview applicants and was gracious enough to be patient on what amounted to about a three week period.
In essence we had a shift of personnel involving about 20 people.
The end result was that anyone who wanted to remain could and the people who wanted to leave did. Everyone won.
I am not saying we will be inviting each other to barbeques this summer but rather that you can work together for a good cause when it really counts.

Lou

As usual all comments are welcome, even from the guy who keeps calling me Soprano.

Union Election Victory For L.A.Times Pressroom Employees

CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!

Our first order of business is to mend the broken fences and repair the burned bridges between all in our Pressrooms that were the result of managements relentless anti-union campaign. The ONLY losers today were the union busters!

Management has always said that you have a voice and that was true, BUT NOW THEY HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT! This is what we have been denied for way too long and we deserve everything this victory affords us.

We have made history by bringing Union Representation back to our shops for the first time in 40 years and should never allow management to divide us again!

A democractic process will now give each and everyone of us a voice in EVERY decision made regarding our Trade and pressrooms in The L.A. Times.

There is alot of work ahead and alot of people to thank for all their personal sacrifices. This was a very stressful election for everyone and it is now behind us and we will learn and build together a UNION shop that we can all be proud of.

The Los Angeles Times used to set the bar and were the model for all newspapers to follow and it's time that we position ourselves to regain that position in our industry once again. We in the Pressroom have a responsibility and an opportunity to help do just that.

Thank you everyone.

Happy New Year to everyone! A New Year with health and prosperity for all!
From The Pineda Family

Some of you came out and met Mike and Lou from Newsday's Pressroom. Some of us were unable to due to the holidays, work or simply time. We anticipated this and made a DVD of their visit and have made them available to everyone. I encourage you to watch this DVD before you cast your vote. The message they deliver is powerful. They explain how they run their shop and how we can do the same.
Again I will ask each and everyone of you to take responsibility for what has happened over the past seven years with Tribune at the helm,and ask that you do the same for the future. We cannot and should not leave our future in the hands of people who have done nothing for us.
A sale is eminant and we must take action to protect ourselves and our families.