Free Republic

Los Angeles (AP) -- The yearlong fight between newsroom employees at the Santa Barbara News-Press and its wealthy owner now centers on the firing of eight employees, some of whom urged subscribers to cancel their subscriptions as part of the dispute. Testimony was scheduled to start Tuesday in what is expected to be a monthlong hearing on federal charges that the newspaper illegally fired employees for attempting to form a union. The National Labor Relations Board has charged the paper with improperly firing eight reporters, six of whom hung a sign over a highway overpass in February urging passers-by to...

NEW YORK Exactly seven months after the first of a string of resignations occurred at the Santa Barbara News-Press, sparking a long-running newsroom battle that has included federal labor complaints and a vote for Teamster representation, another five reporters have left the paper. But this time they were allegedly fired, according to union leaders, who claim the dismissals were in retaliation for union organizing activities. "In a blatant bare-knuckled attack on its employees' rights to engage in expressive labor activity in support of their desire to be represented by a Union and to protest their employer's recent unlawful employment decisions,...

A nasty fight between the news staff and the owner of a local paper here has created some new casualties: readers. Take, for example, Eric Zahm, a hairdresser who hung a sign in his window taking Wendy P. McCaw, owner and co-publisher of The Santa Barbara News-Press, to task for not recognizing a vote to unionize her news staff. Within days, Zahm received a letter from a lawyer for McCaw, warning him that the sign - which read, “McCaw Obey the Law” - could get him sued for defamation. After consulting a lawyer, Zahm took the bright orange sign down...

"A cease-and-desist letter is a form of dialogue." -- David Millstein, general counsel for the Santa Barbara News Press, when asked why the paper's owner, Wendy McCaw, has opted to sue "when she has felt wronged, rather than engaging in dialogue with readers or her news staff," according to the New York Times ('A Newsroom Fight Spills Into the Streets of a Once-Peaceful Town'). Mr. Millstein said the legal actions were merely a way for Mrs. McCaw to demonstrate her belief that she had the right to express her views through the newspaper, and to defend herself from critics, according...

A former reporter for the embattled Santa Barbara News-Press sued the paper Wednesday, claiming it failed to keep accurate time records and stiffed employees out of overtime pay. The lawsuit seeks class-action status for as many as 200 past and present employees. The suit claims the newspaper failed to pay overtime to employees who worked more than eight hours a day or more than 40 hours a week. It also alleges the News-Press didn't provide its employees with meal and rest periods required by California law. "It is common for employers to unintentionally violate technical violation of California's strict employment...

NEW YORK Newsroom employees of the Santa Barbara News-Press who are seeking union representation in the wake of the recent editor resignations have launched a campaign asking subscribers to cancel their subscriptions if the union is not recognized. The cancellation campaign is being waged by the same group of editorial employees who have asked to be represented by the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The group began handing out postcards last weekend to local readers that ask the paper to cancel their subscription if the union is not recognized and a contract is not negotiated. "We...

Los Angeles -- Santa Barbara News-Press Editor Jerry Roberts, four other top editors and a columnist quit to protest moves by the owner that they say undermine the paper's credibility. The editors, who resigned Wednesday and Thursday, said owner Wendy McCaw and her closest associates have become increasingly meddlesome. They also pointed to the appointment of Travis Armstong to acting publisher while he serves as editorial page editor. "What we have as a paper to sell to people is our credibility," said Don Murphy, who was the paper's deputy managing editor. "On one hand you have someone writing editorials and...