Bad Faith? In 2007, The National Labor Relations Board trial of the Santa Barbara News-Press captured the town’s rapt attention. Cameras, reporters were everywhere. But the current NLRB-News-Press trial has hardly created a ripple. Little attention and no fireworks so far.

For weeks, the media’s attention has been riveted on the murder trial of Jesse James Hollywood. Since Hollywood was convicted Wednesday, July 8, of the kidnap-murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz, one might have expected reporters to swarm to the NLRB trial of allegations of unfair labor practices. But no.

On Thursday afternoon, July 9, this Independent columnist found himself the sole observer of legalistic back-and-forth testimony before NLRB Administrative Law Judge Clifford Anderson, not to be confused with the Santa Barbara Superior Court judge of the same name.

The overarching issue is an allegation by the NLRB and the Teamsters Union that the newspaper has not been bargaining in good faith during nearly two years of largely fruitless meetings to work out a newsroom contract.

One of several other alleged unfair labor practices involves the paper’s firing of sportswriter Dennis Moran, who was on the newsroom bargaining committee. The union deems this retaliation for his activism.

In proceedings that began in May at the Santa Barbara College of Law, the NLRB and union have finished their presentations, and this week the News-Press began mounting its defense. Three more days are scheduled next week, and then the trial is due to resume in mid-August.

On the stand Thursday was Michael Zinzer, who heads a union-busting legal firm hired by News-Press owner Wendy McCaw. He was being quizzed by Teamster attorney Ira Gottlieb. News-Press attorney Barry Cappello was not present but two of his staff attorneys were.

The trial is being carried out in a plain room, painted a boring off-white. Fluorescent ceiling tubes light the place. In short, there is little ambiance of the majesty of law, although Judge Anderson commands respect with soft-spoken rulings. In contrast to the Hollywood trial, there were no bailiffs, not even security screening. There was no shouting, just soft, polite lawyerly voices, some barely audible. Tables were jammed with an untidy array of laptops and file boxes.

There has still been no word from the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in March heard an NLRB appeal of a federal judge’s refusal to order fired News-Press reporters back to work.

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