Unions!

I have to admit that I am pro-union... always have been. I grew up in a blue collar home in Pittsburgh and knew from a very young age that if it hadn't been for the unions of the steel-workers, blue collar life in Pittsburgh would have been very very different.

I know that there have been union misdeeds and corruption through the years but that doesn't outweigh the important gains that unions have procured for working people. So, my basic orientation to unions is that I'm for them until there is a really good reason to be against them.

The local paper in Santa Barbara - the News Press - has made the news over the last months as management has fought against the news staff, firing many and watching others resign. When the reporters tried to form a union, the gloves came off. The News Press filled four objections in court and claiming that the union used unfair organizing tactics. Yesterday, the judge ruled against all four objections and now the News Press is officially a union shop. The News Press has 14 days to appeal.

Here's the interesting piece... I heard the story last night on the local television news. There is an associated press article traveling around. The story is all over the web... here, here,and here are examples. Yet, if the News Press reported the ruling, I can't find it either in today's paper nor on their website. This is a paper that has been yelling that the union was stopping them from balanced reporting and running full page anti-union advertisements! And when a judge rules in favor of the union, against the paper, nothing appears in print?

There are more lawsuits yet to be decided in this mess and a community forum planned by the clergy association that will give both sides the opportunity to speak their opinions.