US labour panel to press Reuters over reaction to Twitter post

The board asserts that Reuters violated the reporter’s right to discuss working conditions when her supervisor reprimanded her for posting a message on Twitter saying, “One way to make this the best place to work is to deal honestly with Guild members”.

The author of the post, Deborah Zabarenko, environmental reporter in Washington and head of the Newspaper Guild of New York at Reuters, sent the tweet to a company Twitter address after a supervisor had invited employees to send postings about how to make Reuters the best place to work.

“The next day the bureau chief called me at home,” Zabarenko, pictured, told The New York Times. “He told me that Reuters had a policy that we were not supposed to say something that would damage the reputation of Reuters News or Thomson Reuters. I felt kind of threatened. I thought it was some kind of intimidation.”

A NLRB official confirmed the board’s Manhattan office had informed Thomson Reuters and the union of the planned complaint. The official also confirmed it involved an accusation that the company had violated a worker’s federally protected right to engage in concerted, protected activity with co-workers to improve working conditions.

The board usually warns parties before a formal complaint is filed, to encourage settlement of the dispute. If no settlement occurs an administrative law judge will hear the complaint.

A Thomson Reuters spokeswoman said the company was surprised by the board’s complaint because it did not believe Zabarenko had even been disciplined. She said the company’s social media guidelines were straightforward and like those at many other companies.

The Guild, which represents 420 Reuters employees, has been in contract talks with the company since before the old contract expired in January 2009.

Peter Szekely, the Guild’s secretary-treasurer, said “Management unilaterally implemented a policy that restricts the free speech of its employees, and for a news organisation that’s inappropriate.” He said the NLRB had told the union it planned to file additional charges against Thomson Reuters over a new pay plan and other issues. ■