Providence, R.I.
'So rich, so cheap!' say newspaper workers
By Michael Shaw
Providence, R.I.
Over 200 people turned out Oct. 20 to protest ongoing
attempts to crush the Providence Newspaper Guild. PNG
represents about 500 reporters, editors, advertising and
production workers at the Providence Journal, Rhode Island's
largest daily.
The Guild workers have not received a raise since 1999, and
have suffered a host of illegal labor practices from
management. Things have gone downhill for the workers since the
paper was bought out by a Texas company, the Belo Corp. of
Dallas, in 1997.
Currently the National Labor Relations Board in Boston has
47 charges hanging over The Providence Journal for violating
labor law in its still-unfinished negotiations with the PNG for
a new contract. But hearings originally scheduled for this
summer have been delayed to February 2002.
The charges include the illegal imposition of inferior
medical plans, reduced holiday and vacation benefits, and the
rescinding of discounted parking for employees; withholding
important information on medical and pension plans, which is
necessary for contract negotiations; intimidating union
members; and making a series of unilateral changes in employee
working conditions without bargaining, which is a violation of
the collective bargaining procedures required by the National
Labor Relations Act.
To show resistance to the Journal's hostility, Guild members
initiated a "Black Thursday" by wearing black to work on that
day of the week. Many reporters and photographers are doing
"byline strikes," withholding their bylines and credits from
their work in the Journal. The Guild has also collected
thousands of cards from supporters who pledge to honor a
boycott of the paper should the Guild call for one.
As the newspaper's labor strife has received little or no
coverage in the Journal itself, the Guild has set up a Web
site, journalontrial.org, to keep the public appraised of
developments in its struggle.
At the midday rally outside the Journal's main offices on
Fountain Street in downtown Providence, passing cars honked
support for the diverse crowd, which chanted loudly and sang
along as a folk guitarist performed such rousing labor tunes as
"Which Side Are You On?" and "We're Gonna Roll the Union
On."
Newspaper Guild brothers and sisters turned out representing
papers across New England, including the Boston Globe and Fall
River Herald News in Massachusetts and the Manchester Newspaper
Guild in New Hampshire. Many other local unions and community
organizations had people there, too.
A large banner on the street pointed to the nature of the
Guild's corporate antagonists: "So rich, so cheap!"
Picketers' signs read "Stop the wage theft," "ProJo breaks
labor law," and "The Journal cannot silence our voices."
The action showed that the Guild's militancy and community
support is only growing stronger as the battle for a decent
contract goes on.
Reprinted from the Nov. 1, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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