Louisville 619M won a regional National Labor Relations Board ruling that a group of newspaper carriers that are seeking representation from the local are not independent contractors as Gannett's Louisville Courier-Journal had claimed.

Local 619M Pres. Richard Street said several carriers for the Courier-Journal who operate in Bullitt County, Ky., contacted the local about joining the union.

"They had their price cut for daily and Sunday delivery and for inserts and were mad and weren't going to take it anymore," Street said.

With the assistance of GCIU Organizer Robert Robinson, Street met with the unit of 31 carriers and filed a petition with the Region 9 NLRB for an election.

The company sought to block the petition by claiming that the carriers are independent contractors and not employees of the newspaper. Robinson and Street represented the union at the hearing before the NLRB regional director to decide the issue.

The Courier-Journal had required carriers to sign boilerplate agreements stating that they are independent contractors. However, carriers were not allowed to negotiate the terms of those agreements, including payment for services and conditions of employment, as would be the case for most truly independent contractors.

In his ruling, NLRB Region 9 Director Richard L. Ahearn noted similarities and differences between this case and a case involving the representation of newspaper carriers in St. Joseph, Mo., which is currently pending before the full board. He applied the board's list of 10 factors to be used to analyze the independent contractor/employee issues that stemmed from 1998 cases with Roadway Packaging System Inc. and Dial-A-Mattress Operating Corp.

After analyzing each of the factors, Ahearn concluded: "the carriers here [at the Courier-Journal] are employees. In reaching my conclusion, I note in particular that the carriers do not have the ability to negotiate the terms of the contract with the employer. They have, at best, a minuscule opportunity for entrepreneurial gain or loss because of the prevalent per piece sold method of compensation rather than the buy-sell arrangement in St. Joseph's."

Ahearn ordered the election to proceed, but the ballots were impounded because the company appealed the regional director's ruling to the NLRB in Washington, D.C.

Street said that "we're hoping for a fair and prudent decision which will hopefully open the doors for these carriers, who are basically being taken advantage of. We're hoping it will open the doors for opportunities for more carriers to get union representation and give us more clout at the bargaining table inside and out of the newspaper plant."

"I am so proud to be affiliated with these women who called us," Street said, including Donna Wise and Cordia Burden. "They did a great job. They had a great committee. They took the chance and it took some real courage."

Street cited the assistance of Local 619M Vice Pres. Dave Williams, whom he said is involved in the local's plans to file for more elections among the newspaper's 600 other carriers.