Union’s Death by Many Cuts Shows Precarious Perch in Digital Age

Management at Cleveland’s flagship newspaper closed out a years-long fight last month when they dismantled the company’s newsroom union, using tactics that may have been considered illegal union busting during a Democratic presidential administration.

In general, the National Labor Relations Act makes it illegal for employers to “interfere with, restrain, or coerce” workers exercising their rights to organize and join unions. It’s still unlawful for employers to intentionally crush union organizing through practices such as “unit packing"—diluting support for the union by adding more workers to the list of eligible voters—unless they can prove some other, legitimate business reason.

But ...