Responses to Herald and McClatchy's claims about One Herald Guild
In the next couple of weeks, as McClatchy’s lawyers try to peel people away from our strong majority, you will see a variation on many of the same claims they have made in the last two weeks. It is textbook anti-union rhetoric, and the actions are all part of the script.
Good reporters know to get the facts before drawing conclusions. In the interest of that, here are the One Herald Guild responses to each claim.
Management Claim:
“If the Guild is elected, the Guild will represent employees, and the Company will no longer be able to deal directly with employees as individuals in terms of wages, hours and working conditions.”
OHG Response:
This is classic anti-union rhetoric and it is not true. We will bargain for our contract and reach agreement on it in a democratic process. Reporters in unionized newsrooms from Jacksonville to Sacramento to the New York Times are able to negotiate salaries above and beyond the minimums set by a union contract. That is standard practice for a union. Why would management think we would negotiate anything any different here?
Management Claim:
“To date, our employees have only heard one side of the story, one that we believe is both incomplete and not fully accurate. We intend to correct those inaccuracies and balance the information available to our colleagues before they vote on this important issue.”
OHG Response:
We have yet to hear what is “incomplete and inaccurate” about the information we have been providing our colleagues. How do they know we have only provided “one side of the story?”
We have met individually with everyone and have earned this support by being fair and straight-forward about our intentions. This rhetoric is ripped from the same anti-union template at other shops across the country.
Management Claims:
“There are stark differences between what a union can promise and what they can deliver.” “Union promised us raises.” “The Guild also promised us job security and protections against layoffs.”
OHG Response:
This is a classic straw man argument. This effort is not about promises. It is about voting to enter into a collective bargaining for a contract. What we ask for in the bargaining process will be determined through a democratic process. Simply put: We will bargain for the best contract everyone in the bargaining unit can agree upon.
Neither side has to agree to any terms that either side finds unachievable, unacceptable or unrealistic.
Management Claim:
“Voting to create a union does not guarantee job security. Look at other unionized papers across the country and what has happened there over the past twenty years. Look at the auto industry, whose workers were overwhelmingly represented by the UAW.”
OHG Response:
This is more classic anti-union rhetoric. The union has not promised it can halt financial declines, but it can negotiate for limits on freelancing and subcontracting and for severance packages going forward.
Right now, McClatchy could cut any of our salaries by 30 percent and there's nothing we could do to push back. We seek the right to have a voice to protect our local journalism.
Once we vote for One Herald Guild, the status quo (wages, benefits, jobs etc.) remain in effect throughout the bargaining period. Any changes would be up for negotiation between the union and the company.
Management Claims:
“We don’t believe that introducing a third party intermediary helps our relationships, generates efficiency or allows us to adapt and innovate in response to these trends and market conditions.” “You will be covered under the labor contract that is negotiated, whether you agree with its terms or not.”
OHG Response:
The union is not a third party making decisions for us on our behalf. We set our own goals and priorities, not some outside group.
Our local and the national guild have resources that can help us bargain, but we are the ones deciding what to ask for. We are the union.
Once a tentative agreement is reached on a contract, we will all get to vote on whether to ratify it.
Once we have our contract in place, nothing will stop individuals from negotiating with management on their own to get more for themselves. But we’ll have a stronger baseline as a collective. At many Guild newsrooms, such as the Washington Post, the Guild contract defines a minimum salary for each position, but many earn far above the minimum.
After a contract is voted upon and accepted, members elect shop stewards to represent their interests in an ongoing way around workplace safety, compensation, benefits, discipline, etc.
Everyone will have a vote, and a voice.
Management Claim:
“We also don’t think our employees need to pay significant dues to a third party (the union) to help address concerns that we can resolve directly with them.”
OHG Response:
We won’t pay dues until we have a contract. The reason thousands of journalists across the country have joined the Guild is because of the power a union gives employees to determine their lives at work. It is well worth the expense.
What we are doing now is not working. A supermajority of the staff of the MN and ENH believes it is time we have a collective voice to address our concerns. We believe that will lead to significant improvements and give us far more agency in the workplace than we have now.
We understand there is a financial cost to paying dues but it is a trade we are willing to make for more certainty and the assurance we will have a stronger voice in the welfare, predictability and structure of our workplace.
The union is a not-for-profit; all the money goes back into the membership and the resources we need to improve our working conditions.
Management Claim:
“Contrary to what the union is claiming, if elected the union will negotiate with the Miami Herald Media Company, not McClatchy, our parent company. I (Mindy) have worked side by side with many of these employees for years. They are professionals, colleagues and friends. Any negotiations will take place between me and my negotiations team, not someone from corporate. This is all the more reason that I would prefer to work directly with them for the benefit of our newsroom – and don’t believe we need a union to do that.”
OHG Response:
This is a claim often made by managers but seldom followed through by their bosses. Mindy says we will be negotiating with her, but McClatchy has already tested that promise and hired Jones-Day, the expensive D.C. law firm known for its aggressive anti-union tactics, to lead the negotiations. The Jacksonville Times-Union’s executive editor was told by her corporate executives to make the same claim when they were organizing. She has yet to appear at or engage in any bargaining meeting.
Management Claim:
“I look forward to constructive conversations and collaboration with our colleagues on this important issue.”
OHG Response:
Without unionizing, not only do we have no guarantee that we will get what we ask for, but we also have no clear mechanism through which to ask or bargain in the first place.
Management Claim:
“We firmly believe that no union will provide the flexibility and community that best serves our mission. We want to protect our ability to work directly with our employees.”
OHG Response:
The current non-union environment has imposed new and unexpected rules restricting overtime, staff taking religious holidays, attending funerals, etc. that is the opposite of flexibility.
A collective bargaining agreement inherently invites some degree of structure, but the terms and conditions will be what we agree to. Right now, we could use some sense of predictability and equity about everything from daily work hours to comp time, to vacations, to being fired and promoted. Our priority will be to maintain a positive and productive newsroom.
We have the power to negotiate the flexibility we need. We should only gain things we don’t have yet. The things that aren’t broken, we won’t try to fix.
Management Claim:
A union will hurt the bottom line of the company
OHG Response:
Offering livable pay, decent benefits, and respect on the job helps any company attract and retain a diverse and qualified staff. By requiring our company to be more transparent, a union can actually strengthen internal communication and make operations run more smoothly.