Photo by Rebecca Cook, Detroit Sunday Journal

Protesting Gannett's and Knight Ridder's corporate crimes in front of the News and Free Press building in downtown Detroit are Carol O'Neill of Detroit 13N, right, and Armand Nevers of Typographical Union No. 18.

Detroit 13N won arbitration cases for two pressmen against Detroit Newspapers, which had fired them for alleged picket line incidents.

Arbitrator John A. Lyons ordered Detroit Newspapers, the joint operating agency of the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, to reinstate with back pay dating from April 1997 Local 13N pressmen Bob Heckart and Jim Blaske.

Local 13N Pres. Jack Howe said both pressmen have been reinstated and are back at work. "It was a real morale booster for our members to get back Bob and Jim," Howe said.

Howe noted that both GCIU members were activists in the strike/lockout that began in July 1995. Heckart ran the Sterling Heights strike headquarters for the six local unions involved in the dispute, including Local 13N and Detroit-Toledo-Lansing 289M, and Blaske is a member of the Workers Justice Committee.

Howe said Local 13N filed for arbitration for six pressmen with lifetime job guarantees who were fired for alleged strike-related activities. The arbitration process was launched in February 1997. Of those six, two arbitrations were lost, two were won, and two are pending, including Howe's case. He noted that a National Labor Relations Board charge is pending for one of the arbitrations that was denied, so there is still a chance for that Local 13N member to regain his job.

Howe said pursuit of the arbitration cases was possible because of the support by GCIU locals and members. "The continued support after these four years is particularly appreciated as the wheels of justice slowly creak in our favor," he said.

Meanwhile, Howe reported, Local 13N met with DN management to focus on outstanding bargaining issues. He said scheduling for additional meetings is planned after Nov. 15.

Overall, the National Labor Relations Board is seeking reinstatement for about 160 workers who struck the DN, News and Free Press in July 1995, according to The Alliance, the publication of the Detroit Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions. The workers were later fired for alleged misconduct on the picket line.

Heckart, a member of Local 13N's executive board, was fired following an incident at DN's North Plant on Aug. 19, 1995. From the picket line, Heckart was accused of throwing an object that broke a bus window and injured a replacement worker on the bus. Heckart was charged based on a vague identification of clothing by one of the scabs, and he denied any involvement in the incident.

In another picket-line-related case reported by The Detroit Sunday Journal, a Macomb County jury issued a not-guilty verdict for Teamster member Don Stone, who was supporting his brother and sister Teamsters on the DN picket line. The Sterling Heights police accused Stone of assaulting an officer and damaging a police radio during a mass demonstration at the North Plant in September 1995.

Videotapes viewed by the panel of jurors showed Stone being roughed up by police but did not show him committing any violations of the court injunction that limited the number of pickets allowed in the North Plant driveways.

Stone said he was standing on the curb the night of the demonstration when police sprayed his eyes with pepper spray, knocked him to the street, and arrested him. Stone has filed a federal lawsuit charging Sterling Heights and several individuals, including police officers, with violating his civil rights, the Journal reported.

In another victory, the NLRB's Region 7 ruled that all assistant and deputy editors at the Detroit Free Press are under the jurisdiction of Newspaper Guild Local 22, the Journal reported. The decision by NLRB Region 7 Director William Schaub Jr. said the 24 positions are not supervisory under the government's definition of management employees that are exempt from union bargaining units.

Local 22 Pres. Lou Mleczko said the NLRB's decision vindicated the union's position that the editors had no real supervisory authority. He said the union didn't call any witnesses "because all of the company witnesses did such a good job of discrediting the Press' legal theories."

Howe called the victory "significant because the National Labor Relations Act's language on who is a manager isn't that favorable to unions."

GCIU locals 13N and 289M and their members in Detroit continue to need the support of every local union and member to help in winning the contract struggle against the giant newspaper chai- ns Gannett and Knight Ridder.

Contributions are needed urgently to help locked-out members support their families. The locals also need donations to help pay legal defense bills, which continue to mount as Gannett, Knight Ridder and their joint operating agency, Detroit Newspapers, prolong the dispute.

Local unions and individuals may send donations to the GCIU Local 13N/289M Special Assistance Fund, 3300 Book Building, Detroit, Mich. 48226. Individuals only – not local unions – may contribute to The Newspaper Unions Assistance Fund at the same address.