From: Nigel.Allen@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Nigel Allen)
Subject: Locked-Out Rail Employees Boycott USA Today
Organization: Echo Beach
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 23:38:28 GMT

I thought you might want to see this press release from the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers regarding USA Today.

 Locked-Out Rail Employees Boycott USA Today
 To: National Desk, Labor and Media writers
 Contact: Stephen W. FitzGerald of the
          Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, 216-241-2630 ext. 251
          or 216-241-2639 (after hours)
   CLEVELAND, Aug. 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers (BLE) International President Ronald P. McLaughlin is
calling on all unionized employees in the railroad industry to
boycott USA Today.  The BLE boycott comes after a review of the
newspaper's contacts with the BLE and other unions and USA Today's
subsequent reporting during the national railroad lockout.
   McLaughlin's letter to Lane Kirkland, asking that the AFL-CIO
join the BLE boycott of the paper, follows. It was also announced in
"The Locomotive Engineer" newsletter mailed yesterday to
approximately 150,000 readers. The BLE, the nation's senior labor
organization founded in 1863, never did strike.

 August 24, 1992

 President Lane Kirkland
 American Federation of Labor
  and Congress of Industrial Organizations
 AFL-CIO Building
 815 16th St., N.W.
 Washington, D.C. 20006

   Dear Brother Kirkland:

   As you know, about a quarter-million unionized employees were
out of work recently, because CEOs at the largest rail corporations
conspired to conduct a national lockout -- for the sake of creating
an emergency and prompting the Bush White House to intervene
on management's behalf.
   A further injustice was done to these union members, after they
confronted locked gates or were turned away by supervisors when
they attempted to honor their collective bargaining agreements:
These Brothers and Sisters were blamed for the crisis that was, in
fact, hurting them -- a crisis they did not want or cause.
   Unexplainably, in the pages of USA Today, the second largest
daily newspaper in the country, a non-existent "nationwide strike"
by unionized employees was being blamed for a national emergency.
   The victims were being portrayed as the villains.
   Our union went the full nine yards to wire, phone, fax and
educate one-to-one the USA Today reporters who were covering the
event -- before, during and after.  The reporters indicated in
every instance that they understood the difference between a
national lockout and the single, limited strike by the
International Association of Machinists.  These reporters knew the
BLE and other unions weren't simply spinning a semantic fantasy;
they knew we were telling them the truth!
   However, USA Today reported that strikers were why commuters and
Amtrak passengers were being stranded and valuable crops were
rotting in the fields.  Our public relations department immediately
confronted one of the reporters, who admitted that although the
important fact was understood -- that the national rail service
shutdown was created by a lockout -- by the time reporters' stories
were published, the reporter said, "someone else puts their
fingerprints on them."
   A lead editorial confirmed the suspicion that the newspaper's
goal was to report the situation falsely to its readers.  USA Today
knowingly chose to print management lies and propaganda while
editing the facts we relayed to its reporters.  For this reason, I
am calling on the AFL-CIO to initiate and endorse a boycott of USA
Today -- this boycott should last until the newspaper publishes an
apology to our nation's unionized railroad employees.
   I hope you will agree that bringing this irresponsible reporting
to the attention of all union families and the American people, by
publicizing this boycott to affiliate members and competing media,
is the justified response we should follow.  It will be a boycott
which all union members and news outlets truly interested in fair
and objective news reporting will welcome and support.
   I have included a copy of the paper's own "Our View" editorial
which uses variations of "national" and "strike" at least 10 times.
   Please note this paragraph, as over 1.7 million USA Today readers
certainly did:

      A nationwide rail strike erupted, bringing ominous
      possibilities: grain rotting, poultry dying, vegetables
      spoiling, jobs lost and 600,000 passengers stranded.

   This is clearly a slap in the face to the men and women
represented by AFL-CIO affiliates in the railroad industry, and to
all of organized labor.  It demands an apology.  I look forward to
a commitment from you to help this Brotherhood promote a boycott of
USA Today until we get one.

    In Solidarity,

 /s/Ronald P. McLaughlin
    International President

--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
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