WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Labor Relations Board upheld a federal administrative law judge’s decision that the layoff of 11 workers by the Times Union newspaper in 2009 was illegal.

In an unanimous decision this week, the Board also upholds the judge’s ruling that the company’s declaration of impasse in the layoff negotiations broke the law.

In addition to ordering the newspaper to rehire the workers, pay lost wages and benefits and return to bargaining over layoffs, the Board in Washington, D.C added a new penalty: The Times Union was ordered to pay compounded daily interest on money owed to the workers.

The Board’s decision stated the company’s “unilateral application of its criteria for selecting employees for permanent layoff and its unilateral placement of the selected employees on paid leave presented the Union with a fait accompli, tainting the parties’ subsequent bargaining over the layoffs.”

The Guild calculates the bill for lost wages is now more than $500,000 – and growing – even without the interest.

“The Times Union needs to stop its losing legal war on its employees and return to the bargaining table to settle all of our differences,” Albany Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “Too much money already has been wasted on lawyers at a time when the newspaper can ill afford it. We stand ready and willing to negotiate a settlement with significant concessions that still preserves our right to negotiate over layoffs and outsourcing.”

The decision also requires the Times Union to post a notice that it broke the law to employees by email or by internet posting.

In an interesting side note, the Times Union argued to the Board that its own reporting on the layoffs was hearsay and should not be considered reliable.

The NLRB’s ruling comes just a couple of weeks after a federal court sided with the Guild in another issue in the contract negotiations.

In that decision, the 2^nd Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the company’s appeal of a federal district court ruling over dues checkoff.

The appeals court ruled that the Guild has the right to arbitration over the company’s unilateral decision to end dues checkoff. The court ordered the Times Union to submit the matter to arbitration. The two sides have scheduled the arbitration hearing for August 30 in Albany.

“We are grateful to the International’s attorney, Barbara Camens, for her outstanding legal work and to Guild International and CWA’s leadership for allowing Barbara to handle these cases for us at no additional cost,”O’Brien said. “We have always said these cases provide leverage that should lead to a settlement, and that is now more true than ever.”

At a general membership meeting May 19, Jeff Boyer was chosen as our local’s third vice president.

Jeff joined the Times Union in June 2000 as an editorial artist. He graduated with A.A.S. in commercial art from Sullivan County Community College. After working in an aerospace company’s art department for 10 years, he entered the newspaper business in 1990.

His design and illustration work has received numerous awards from The Associated Press, Gannett and Hearst. The Syracuse Press club and Gannett have also honored him for his cartoons.

Jeff has illustrated for several magazines and has exhibited paintings in several galleries within New York state and Maryland, including a one-man show of sports themed art.

“Jeff Boyer’s excellent work has brightened many a page, especially front pages on Sundays,” Guild local president Tim O’Brien said. “We are so proud he is willing to join the board, and we know he’ll be a great voice for his colleagues.”

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/23376949 w=400&h=225]
Mike Risinger from Over Fifty and Out of Work on Vimeo.

In our talks with the Times Union, the Guild has repeatedly tried to balance the interests of all our members. We’ve long since stopped insisting on a strict reverse order of seniority system for layoffs.

What we have proposed instead is a system that enables the company to keep talented people at the bottom end of the seniority scale, but we have said it’s simply not right to then go to the top and let people with the most time on the job go. If the person is no longer up to the job, the company has an ability to seek their discharge by establishing just and sufficient cause.

So why do we believe older workers should have some measure of protection?

This gives you a pretty good idea. It’s a story about a website where people 50 and older tell their painful stories about what it’s like not to be able to find work again. You can view the whole site here.

Listen to this unemployed workers’ horrifying story: “I’ve been out of work for a little over two years now. My wife doesn’t love me anymore; my kids don’t love me.”

If you’ve ever wondered why we have fought so hard and taken this stand, I hope this helps.

The Newspaper Guild added another legal victory this week when the 2nd Circuit Court rejected the Times Union’s appeal of a lower court decision on the cutting off of union dues.

The newspaper has been trying to prevent its workers from having a case heard over the company’s cessation of collecting dues. The court upheld the district court’s ruling that the Guild has a right to take that case to arbitration.

“We hold that the Guild’s contractual right to checkoff of union dues survives expiration of the agreement, thus subjecting the parties’dispute to arbitration,” the court ruled in its decision.

You can read the full text of the decision here.

The decision also lifts a stay the court had granted while the appeal was heard, meaning the union can now insist a hearing date be scheduled.

This is the latest in an impressive string of victories the union has won. The National Labor Relations Board prosecuted the Times Union for breaking the law when it illegally laid off 11 workers in 2009 and for illegally declaring impasse in those layoff negotiations. The union won both those cases before the Administrative Law Judge, and the Times Union was ordered to bring the employees back to work, pay them back pay and resume negotiations.

Rather than abide by the ALJ’s decision, the Times Union filed an appeal to the full NLRB in Washington, D.C. – a delaying tactic with virtually no chance of victory. In the meantime, the Times Union’s liability in the case now exceeds $500,000 and grows every day.

“The time has come for the Times Union to stop waging its losing legal war against its workers,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “We have continued to offer flexibility at the bargaining table. If the company put half the effort into reaching a settlement that the union has, we’d be done by now.”

The union had offered the company a bargaining date of May 18 for further off-the-record discussions. The company said it was unavailable but has yet to provide another date .

The Guild is especially thankful for the great legal work done by International attorney Barbara Camens.

“We are very lucky to have excellent legal counsel on our side,” O’Brien said. “Barbara has done just a stellar job for us. But the time has come for the Times Union to stop wasting money on lawyers and start focusing on a reasonable settlement and the considerable flexibility we continue to offer.”

The Guild Reporter’s article on the decision can be read here.

Tim Neff is the Guild’s newest officer after winning election Wednesday at a membership meeting in the Colonie Public Library.

But just as one seat on the board was filled, another opened up as third vice president Brendan Lyons resigned for personal reasons. The board thanked him for his service, and it is working to schedule a meeting in May to fill that seat.

Neff joined the Times Union as a copy editor in 1998 and became an online producer in February 2009. At the Editorial Awards last week, Editor Rex Smith called Neff “Web producer extraordinaire.”

“As timesunion.com’s web producer for news, Tim Neff makes sure our online audience can take full advantage of our great journalism,” Smith said. “Along with creating the homepage centerpieces and breaking news display, he adds value to our content by seeking deeper links to all that the Times Union produces, as well as other sources. He has been integral in setting up ways for the newsroom to embrace digital, working with Jim White and others to develop systems that make it easier for us to get our work before the public. He also takes the lead online role in many of our news projects, working closely with the newsroom to enhance the readers’ online experience. Tim has become the go-to guy for the Go Team and entire newsroom.”

His colleagues on the Executive Board are thrilled to have Tim join them as the second vice president. He replaces Mark Ramirez, another excellent employee, who has moved to a new job in New Jersey.

Lyons, too, is a highly regarded employee and also won kudos at the awards ceremony for his investigative work. He joined the board in September and thanked the board for its hard work and efforts in a very trying period for the Guild.

“The union has always prided itself on the quality of our work,” Guild President Tim O’Brien said. “You can’t be an effective Guild leader and an ineffective employee. That’s why we’re so pleased to have a recognized leader in the newsroom and on the Web team join the board. We know Tim will make a great contribution on behalf of his colleagues, and we are thankful to Brendan for his service and his willingness to continue to support the Guild even after he leaves the board.”