THE MEDIA

Press Herald writers attempt byline strike

By Noah Bruce

Frustrated with the lack of progress over contract negotiations, writers at the Portland Press Herald have decided to go on a byline strike — a form of protest unique to the newspaper world where employees continue to print stories but refuse to attach their names to them.

“Readers will recognize that bylines are missing and will realize that something is wrong,” says Ed Murphy, Press Herald staff writer and vice president of the Portland Newspaper Guild, the union that represents the Portland Press Herald employees. What’s wrong is that Herald employees have not had a raise in three years and have been without a contract for four.

Though the strike has been talked about for several months, it comes about at this particular time due to “the snails pace of the negotiations and the fact that we’re getting communications from management saying union leaders are to blame,” explains Richard Bellafiore, a sales representative with the Herald and a member of the solidarity committee of the guild that planned the byline strike.

Guildmembers, says Bellafiore, are unhappy with portions of the current contract proposal having to do with raises, health care, and management rights over employees that would supercede the contract. The strike, he believes, will raise public awareness. “We want the public to know these are your neighbors,” he says. “They work and live with you. We go to the churches. Our kids play sports in the neighborhood.”

However, management at the Herald may attempt to crush the strike, even though the right to withhold the byline is guaranteed in the employee’s contract, says Murphy. According to an email sent to employees from managing editor Jeannine Guttman, employees who want to withhold their byline must submit a written request directly to Guttman “two full working days in advance of the day the employee wants the byline withheld.” Further, the email states that “any employee whose request is granted needs to be aware that management will be the sole determiner of if and when the byline is reinstated.” Finally, Guttman writes that withholding one’s byline does not include other identifiers such as column signatures, photo credits, taglines, or email addresses or other identifiers.

Murphy objects to each of these points. He says Guttman’s policy “does not take precedence” over a contract “agreed to by the company and the guild.” (Until the Herald and the guild agree to the new contract the old contract is still in effect.) He claims there is nothing in the contract about a 48-hour request and, more importantly, nothing that gives the editor the prerogative to decide to withhold the byline or not. That right is specifically given to the writer by the contract when it states “No employee’s byline should be used over his objection,” says Murphy.

As for the other identifiers, Murphy says “our position is that tag lines like the byline are something that identifies who wrote the story. Yes, we’d object to [using other identifiers].”

According to Murphy, at the time the Phoenix went to press, the Herald writers had not submitted requests to Guttman. Instead, they had turned in their stories without bylines and with a note saying they did not want their bylines printed. The response from the editors was that bylines would be included.

If the bylines are actually used against the will of the writers, says Murphy, a grievance and an unfair practices charge will be filed by the guild against the paper.