The Newspaper Guild v. Ottaway Newspapers

CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedApril 3, 1996
Docket95-1878
StatusPublished

This text of The Newspaper Guild v. Ottaway Newspapers (The Newspaper Guild v. Ottaway Newspapers) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
The Newspaper Guild v. Ottaway Newspapers, (1st Cir. 1996).

Opinion

USCA1 Opinion



UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
____________________

No. 95-1878

THE NEWSPAPER GUILD OF SALEM,
LOCAL 105 OF THE NEWSPAPER GUILD,

Plaintiff - Appellant,

v.

OTTAWAY NEWSPAPERS, INC.,
THE SALEM NEWS PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.,
AND ESSEX COUNTY NEWSPAPERS,

Defendants - Appellees.

____________________

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Edward F. Harrington, U.S. District Judge] ___________________

____________________

Before

Torruella, Chief Judge, ___________

Bownes, Senior Circuit Judge, ____________________

and Stahl, Circuit Judge. _____________

_____________________

Ruth A. Bourquin, with whom Lois Johnson and Angoff, __________________ _____________ _______
Goldman, Manning, Pyle, Wanger & Hiatt, P.C. were on brief for ______________________________________________
appellant.
Richard A. Perras, with whom Steven M. Cowley and Edwards & __________________ ________________ _________
Angell were on brief for appellees. ______

____________________

April 3, 1996
____________________

TORRUELLA, Chief Judge. Plaintiff-Appellant The TORRUELLA, Chief Judge ____________

Newspaper Guild of Salem, Local 105 of the Newspaper Guild, (the

"Guild") appeals the district court's denial of its request for

injunctive relief against Defendants-Appellees Ottaway

Newspapers, Inc., The Salem News Publishing Co., and Essex County

Newspapers (together, the "Publisher"). The district court

denied the Guild's request for (i) an order compelling the

Publisher to submit to arbitration grievances arising under their

collective bargaining agreement concerning the Publisher's

obligations to bargain a successor agreement and to honor the

terms of their present agreement until those negotiations

concluded and (ii) an order enjoining the Publisher from laying

off members of the Guild, pending resolution of the Guild's

grievances. For the following reasons, we dismiss the appeal in

part as moot, and affirm in all other respects.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND _________________________________

This case stems from the merger and consolidation of

three newspapers. Essex County Newspapers ("ECN"), an

unincorporated division of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc., publishes

The Beverly Times and The Peabody Times, daily newspapers, from _________________ _________________

its plant in Beverly, Massachusetts. Effective March 15, 1995,

ECN completed its acquisition of The Salem Evening News, a daily ______________________

newspaper, published in Salem, Massachusetts. This acquisition

was completed through the merger of the prior owner, the Salem

News Publishing Company, into the Salem News Publishing Company,

Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. ECN

-2-

is consolidating the three newspapers into one publication to be

called The Salem Evening News. This consolidated daily is to be _______________________

published from ECN's Beverly facility, which is less than five

miles from the less modern Salem plant.

The district court noted that this consolidation was

the principal reason for ECN's acquisition and that it required a

reduction in the work force in order to avoid duplication. For

over fifty years, the Guild has been the collective bargaining

representative for the employees of the publisher of The Salem _________

Evening News. The most recent collective bargaining agreement ____________

between the Guild and the former publisher of The Salem Evening __________________

News expired on March 31, 1995 (the "Agreement").1 Under ____

Article 15 of the Agreement, its terms and conditions remain in

effect during negotiations for a successor agreement.2
____________________

1 By its original terms, the Agreement was to expire on
September 30, 1994; but, it was extended until March 31, 1995, by
agreement of the parties. The Guild contends that the Agreement
was extended because of the then pending acquisition and due, in
part, to the Publisher's representations that a "new Agreement"
would contain enhancements or improvements of the existing
Agreement.

2 ARTICLE 15. Duration and Renewal

15.1 This Agreement shall commence on the
9th day of November, 1993, and expire on the
30th day of September, 1994, and shall inure
to the benefits of and be binding upon the
successors and assigns of the Publisher.

15.2 Within eighty (80) days, and not less
than thirty (30) days prior to the
termination of this Agreement, the Publisher
or the Guild may initiate negotiations for a
new Agreement to take effect April 1, 1995,
the new contract shall be made retroactive to
September 30, 1994.

-3-

In January 1995, the Guild timely initiated

negotiations for a successor agreement, and the first substantive

bargaining session occurred on March 30, 1995. At that time, the

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