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Striking Vindicator Employees Vote 'No' Second Time
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- What part of "No" doesn't management understand?That was the message sent by striking members of the Youngstown Newspaper Guild Monday night as they cast more votes to reject The Vindicator's "best and final" offer than they did Dec. 8 -- the first time the contract was rejected.The vote total, 107 to 20, represented an 84% majority in favor of rejecting the proposal -- which the company refused to consider changing the last time negotiators met -- Jan. 18. At that bargaining session, the Guild presented a counter proposal, which the company summarily rejected. "What part of best-and-final don't you understand," attorney Charles Price, the newspaper's chief negotiator, told the union's executive committee.On Dec. 8 the Guild voted, 99 to 33, to turn down the contract offer -- a 75% majority in favor of rejection. Last night's tally was 13 fewer votes in favor of ratification, and eight more in favor of rejecting the offer."The membership has spoken," said Anthony S. Markota, president of Local 34011 of The Newspaper Guild -- Communications Workers of America. "They sent a clear message that it's a bad contract and they want the company to come back to the table and negotiate."The Guild met for more than an hour before taking a vote. During the often-heated meeting, according to union members who were present, Markota stated the Guild needed to present a united front and stop giving the company false hope that some members might cross the picket lines.He pointed out that some members of management, including political columnist Bertram de Souza, have spent lots of time talking to reporters on the picket line, urging them to cross. If the company doesn't care that the Guild is on strike, Markota asked rhetorically, then why are trying to get some of us to cross?Mark Brown, general manager of The Vindicator, told WFMJ-TV, which is also owned by the Brown family, that he is "disappointed" by Monday night's vote. Brown said contracts have been reached with three other unions that represent newspaper employees. Given The Vindicator's financial situation -- losses for the last seven years -- "I was hoping the Guild would be more reasonable," he said.The strike began Nov. 16 when the Guild's contract expired. The Vindicator, the largest daily newspaper in the Mahoning Valley and the only one operating with union contracts, has reported that the Guild was preparing for a strike in October when it retained the consulting services of the Youngstown Publishing Co., which does business as The Business Journal, to assist in the publication of its strike newspaper, The Valley Voice.On July 26, 2004, The Vindicator also made preparations for a strike, registering the Internet domain name of the Guild's 1964 strike newspaper, the Steel Valley News.MORE: 40 Years Later, Sores Not Healed"