Publishing Industry Labor Relations

San Francisco Newspaper Workers May Strike: Union employees at the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner voted to strike on Oct. 31 should current contract negotiations prove fruitless. Members also scheduled an Oct. 9 meeting to discuss the negotiations. The Joint Conference of Newspaper Unions represents 2,600 employees involved in producing and distributing the newspapers, which operate under a "joint operating agency" agreement.

In a major victory for unions involved in one of the nation's highest-profile labor disputes, a federal administrative law judge ordered Detroit's two newspapers to give more than 1,000 striking workers their jobs back. Judge Thomas Wilks, in a decision released Friday by the National Labor Relations Board, upheld most of the unfair labor practice complaints brought by the six unions against the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press in the nearly 2-year-old clash.

Newsweek magazine, faced with a shrinking advertising base, will offer early retirement to 100 editorial and non-editorial employees, or about 10% of its work force. The weekly publication, owned by Washington Post Co., characterized the offer as a cost-saving step.

Leaders of the unions on strike for 19 months against Detroit's two main daily newspapers made an unconditional offer Friday to return to work, calling it a legal maneuver, not a surrender or end to the strike. But company executives said that if all six striking unions follow through on the unconditional offer, the strike would be over. "They can't have it both ways," said Susie Ellwood, vice president of Detroit Newspapers Inc. "It's sort of like being slightly pregnant.

Leaders of the unions on strike for 19 months against Detroit's two main daily newspapers made an unconditional offer Friday to return to work, calling it a legal maneuver, not a surrender or end to the strike. But company executives said that if all six striking unions follow through on the unconditional offer, the strike would be over. "They can't have it both ways," said Susie Ellwood, vice president of Detroit Newspapers Inc. "It's sort of like being slightly pregnant.

The adage that talk is cheap clearly did not apply to the Brentwood Bla-Bla. Just a few months ago, the chatty community reader and its sister publication, Beverly Hills, the Magazine, fetched more than $1 million from a Los Angeles investment group. The deal was supposed to bring financial stability to the reader-written magazines, which often operated in the red under iconoclastic publishers who call themselves "the Prince" and "the Bear." But storm clouds have gathered over Bla-Bla land.

In a major victory for unions involved in one of the nation's highest-profile labor disputes, a federal administrative law judge ordered Detroit's two newspapers to give more than 1,000 striking workers their jobs back. Judge Thomas Wilks, in a decision released Friday by the National Labor Relations Board, upheld most of the unfair labor practice complaints brought by the six unions against the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press in the nearly 2-year-old clash.

The call to the union hall at 3 a.m. on a recent Sunday sent 200 strikers and supporters scrambling. Within minutes, they massed in an ugly mood outside a newspaper distribution center in this small Detroit suburb. With no police there yet, the pickets were confronted by a few guards with video cameras. Insults were exchanged and rocks hurled. The guards retreated and picket signs became clubs used to smash windshields and headlights on cars whose drivers dared to cross the picket line.

When Therese Iknoian learned that the sports and fitness column she wrote for the San Jose Mercury News was being reproduced on the paper's World Wide Web site, she was more angered than flattered. As a freelance contributor, she assumed she had granted the Mercury News only "first serial rights," the standard for print publication.

When Therese Iknoian learned that the sports and fitness column she wrote for the San Jose Mercury News was being reproduced on the paper's World Wide Web site, she was more angered than flattered. As a freelance contributor, she assumed she had granted the Mercury News only "first serial rights," the standard for print publication.

The call to the union hall at 3 a.m. on a recent Sunday sent 200 strikers and supporters scrambling. Within minutes, they massed in an ugly mood outside a newspaper distribution center in this small Detroit suburb. With no police there yet, the pickets were confronted by a few guards with video cameras. Insults were exchanged and rocks hurled. The guards retreated and picket signs became clubs used to smash windshields and headlights on cars whose drivers dared to cross the picket line.

San Francisco Newspaper Workers May Strike: Union employees at the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Examiner voted to strike on Oct. 31 should current contract negotiations prove fruitless. Members also scheduled an Oct. 9 meeting to discuss the negotiations. The Joint Conference of Newspaper Unions represents 2,600 employees involved in producing and distributing the newspapers, which operate under a "joint operating agency" agreement.

The adage that talk is cheap clearly did not apply to the Brentwood Bla-Bla. Just a few months ago, the chatty community reader and its sister publication, Beverly Hills, the Magazine, fetched more than $1 million from a Los Angeles investment group. The deal was supposed to bring financial stability to the reader-written magazines, which often operated in the red under iconoclastic publishers who call themselves "the Prince" and "the Bear." But storm clouds have gathered over Bla-Bla land.

Newsweek magazine, faced with a shrinking advertising base, will offer early retirement to 100 editorial and non-editorial employees, or about 10% of its work force. The weekly publication, owned by Washington Post Co., characterized the offer as a cost-saving step.