Transcon plan for non-union staffing of California plant sparks controversy

Transcontinental Printing, which is one of Canada's largest printers and which prints its own and many other people's magazines, is caught up in a controversy in California over plans to staff a brand-new newspaper printing plant with non-union pressmen. According to an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, it is related to Hearst Corporation's attempt to break San Francisco's Pressman's and Teamsters' unions or force them to accept onerous work rules and a nearly 50% pay cut.

At issue is a $200 million printing plant nearing completion in Fremont, fifty miles from San Francisco. It reportedly could print all of the newspapers in the Bay Area, and perhaps some from nearby Central Valley cities like Fresno and Stockton. In January the Chronicle ran a series of pieces, including a front section wraparound, on the new printing plant, even though it is not in operation yet. So it seems intent on continuing the printed version. The Canadian firm that is building the plant, TransContintental Printing, plans to use non-union pressmen.