Why did Cuomo (and other Dem candidates) dis the D&C?
stlo7 has stirred up a storm ’round these parts by expressing his displeasure over the D&C’s endorsing of Jeanine Pirro over Andrew Cuomo. One of the questions raised is why Cuomo didn’t seek an interview with the D&C. A reader who is a Newspaper Guild member indicated that candidates stayed away because of concerns over how the company treats its union-represented members:
Several major Democratic candidates refused to go to the editorial board this year until they received word from the Newspaper Guild of Rochester or CWA that we felt the company was serious about resolving our contract situation fairly. In the end, several ended up not attending at all. Cuomo, perchance, was one of them. The editorial board has not seen fit to mention that point when it says candidates did not meet with them.
The City Paper covered this in a recent article. How long has this situation been going on? A long time:
Writers at the Democrat and Chronicle marked 14 years without a contract two weeks ago
More background from the article:
The Newspaper Guild of Rochester, the union representing newsroom employees, has been in negotiations with the paper’s management (plus a lawyer from Gannett’s corporate headquarters), but haven’t managed to reach an agreement. In the past, they’ve accused the company of negotiating in bad faith. Earlier this year, the paper abruptly reversed course and allowed a federal mediator to attend the negotiations. Newsroom union reps say they view that as a positive step, even though it has resulted in few tangible changes for them so far.
Perhaps the biggest sticking point is over a 401(k) plan. The paper won’t offer that popular retirement arrangement (where employers match employee savings) to anyone represented by the Guild, even though just about everyone else in the building receives it.
And the recent round of Dems weren’t the only ones who dissed the D&C:
Last year, all four major-party candidates for mayor boycotted the D&C’s editorial-board interviews, but the editorial page still made endorsements (Bob Duffy, in the both the Democratic primary and general election).
So maybe we can cut Cuomo some slack for this, at least. But the bigger question is: if he wanted to boycott the D&C in support of the Newspaper Guild, shouldn’t he have held a press conference about it or at least a press release? Otherwise, the dispute stays under the radar, and he appears to not care what Rochester thinks.
And if he’d done that, what’s the worst that could happen? The D&C could endorse Jeanine Pirro. Oh wait, they did anyway…
Related posts:
But I’d ask a bigger question…why did David Gantt not respond to the D&C, Messenger Post or City Newspaper?
If Cuomo steered clear of the D&C for union reasons, then he needs to state that publicly. And I don’t apologize for believing that candidate obligations to the public might outweigh union issues.
The D&C anti-union activity is old news - that’s one of the reasons we dropped our subscription to the paper.
Cuomo seems to be quietly very pro-union. I’ve heard stories that one of the reasons he didn’t spend nights in Rochester when he was campaigning upstate is because there were no union hotels in town. I have no idea why he hasn’t made his positions more obvious. Presumably the good word gets out to the unions and the Republicans can’t use the issue against him.
Gantt seems to play petty politics with any media outlet that criticizes him. I think that he stopped talking to the City Newspaper after they wouldn’t endorse Wade Norwood for mayor. Presumably the D&C and the Messenger Post also managed to piss him off, so he won’t talk to them either.