In Wyoming, A Newly Unionized Newsroom Says Corporate Bosses Are Retaliating

Source: Huffington Post

04/10/2018 02:39 pm ET
“It’s fair to say they’re going to war with us,” said one newsroom source.

By Maxwell Strachan

The labor union representing workers at the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming has accused the paper and parent company Lee Enterprises of retaliating against pro-union employees to chill organizing efforts in Lee’s other newsrooms.

The Communications Workers of America filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board on Monday. The union says the company engaged in unfair labor practices when it laid off features editor Elise Schmelzer and suspended politics reporter Arno Rosenfeld.

“I think it was a retaliatory tactic ― toward us and toward Elise specifically,” said a source in the Star-Tribune newsroom who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation. “It’s fair to say they’re going to war with us.”

The charges claim that Schmelzer ― a manager who was not a member of the union ― was let go “due to her support for the recently certified union,” and that “other pro-union, non-bargaining unit employees were also terminated.”

Read more: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/casper-star-tribune-retaliation_us_5accade4e4b0337ad1ebc1ba