Unfair labor practice charges over union t-shirts in newsrooms

It says the company unfairly barred workers from their long-standing practice of wearing the t-shirts to show solidarity during labor contract negotiations.

The Guild's charges to the National Labor Relations Board said Thomson Reuters violated federal labor law by banning only Guild t-shirts and by implementing a dress code without bargaining with the union as required.

"This is the first time in the union's more than 30 years at Reuters that management has been so rattled as to ban a display of union support," said Guild President Bill O'Meara. "Our members are more than a little riled at management trying to curb their right to show solidarity with their union."

The company ordered newsroom staffers not to wear the t-shirts if they could be captured by television cameras using the newsrooms in New York and Washington as a backdrop to Thomson Reuters’ new web-based video product, Insider.

The union and the company have had three bargaining sessions aimed at agreeing a new contract to replace the one that expires on 28 February. ■