Guests at San Diego's famed Hotel del Coronado have dined with princes and presidents, but they've never seen any thing quite like union "street heat."

San Diego 432M Secy.-Treas. Jeffrey O. Alger said the local's campaign to get the Union-Tribune to bargain in good faith on a contract to replace the one that expired in 1992 spread to the "Hotel del" during a management luncheon staged by the newspaper.

The luncheon guests, including Copley family owners, Union-Tribune CEO Gene Bell, and hotel guests were greeted by hundreds of union members chanting "No Contract, No Peace!" They got to meet the local's mascot, "Stinky the Skunk." And last, but not least, they were treated to an airplane circling overhead with a banner bearing the message: "Union-Tribune, Stop Attacking Working Families."

Alger said Local 432M members and their supporters have turned up at nearly every hotel where the Union-Tribune has tried to stage events, and hotel managements are not happy about the union-busting guests.

"We just chase them all around town," Alger said. "Pretty soon, they will have no where to go. We show the public that this is a rat paper, a bad employer."

Alger said his local members, area union supporters, and the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council are delivering the message to the Union-Tribune: "We can be your best friend or your worst enemy. You have a choice."

Alger said the intensified union campaign is moving on three fronts: informing the public, informing the newspaper's advertisers, and at the National Labor Relations Board.

On the legal front, 13 GCIU unfair labor practice charges against the company have progressed to NLRB complaints, Alger said, and the local expects the issue will soon be heard by an administrative law judge.

The public information campaign appears to be hitting the paper hard, Alger said. He said circulation is estimated to be down by about 30,000 "as more and more members and concerned citizens honor the boycott."

The informational campaign includes use of the airplane to deliver the union message at Padres games, at San Diego beaches, and over the newspaper's headquarters. Union members and supporters also picket and rally around the city and at the Union-Tribune headquarters.

Photo by Phillip Cowes, San Diego 432M

Members of the GCIU family prepare for a union rally at the San Diego Union-Tribune, where San Diego 432M is fighting to win a fair contract. From left are Jennifer, Tara, and Michelle Giralo, daughters of Local 432M member Frank Giralo.

The union group recently launched a radio and television advertising campaign to make San Diego citizens aware "of the Union-Tribune's outrageous mistreatment of GCIU members and it's failure to negotiate with the intent of signing a contract," Alger said.

The local and the labor council also stage rallies at the commercial sites of the paper's largest advertisers. Alger said the local usually rallies at an auto dealer or large retailer on busy weekends. "Needless to say, sales go down, tempers heat up and the advertiser exerts pressure on the publisher to settle the dispute," he said.

Alger said the local is "learning how important it is to keep pressure on Union-Tribune management from all sides and the necessity of the union family pulling together in times of need." He thanked all the GCIU locals, members and retirees throughout the United States and Canada, and the International for their assistance.

Alger also thanked Los Angeles 404M for "incredible" support. The San Diego labor council, including Secy.-Treas. Jerry Butkiewicz and Street Heat Coordinator Dennice Rousey "have taken a bold stand for us by formally endorsing the boycott of the Union-Tribune and devoting a great deal of their time and resources to the GCIU fight," he said.

The GCIU fight for a contract at the Union-Tribune is a fight for all of labor, Alger noted. "We in San Diego will not allow the evil plans of the union busters to prevail. As we fight here and hold the line, we discourage publishers everywhere from making the mistake of hiring losers like King and Ballow, who only destroy labor-management relationships."

The GCIU local's relationship with the Copley newspaper had gone smoothly for decades with no strikes or slowdowns, Alger said. The paper was reaping record profits.

Then seven years ago, the newspaper brought in the notorious union-busting firm and began the management campaign to oust the union. Since then, management cut the pay of the 120 Local 432M pressmen by $40 a week, terminated contributions to the union pension fund, and initiated what Alger called discriminatory practices against union members on overtime and scheduling.

The company also began harassing GCIU activists, said Alger, who has been suspended by the paper for eight weeks this year for union activities. He said the paper's hired guns videotape union marches and rallies, and suspend union members the same night. About 30 members have been suspended for these legally protected union activities, he said.

The company led a successful decertification campaign against The Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers local at the paper, and some 50 Teamster drivers have worked without a contract since 1993.

While union employees are disheartened, they have found hope in the GCIU's renewed battle. The Guild Reporter recently speculated that the Union-Tribune's hostilities toward its union members "may backfire . . . as a tougher stance by the GCIU – including rallies, leafleting, and a volley of NLRB charges – has reawakened union interests."

GCIU Vice Pres. Lawrence Martinez, who has assisted the local in its contract struggle, explained why:

"Here's a group of pressmen who had never given the company any trouble. There had never been any strikes or slowdowns, and grievances were minimal. There is really no excuse for the attempt to break the union except corporate greed," he said

"These people have been strong and actually gained strength since management made its all-out effort to break the union," Martinez said. "I could not be prouder of a group GCIU members than those who are standing up and fighting for their rights."