L.A. Police Union Wants San Diego Union-Tribune Writers Fired

The union is fed up with editorials suggesting that part of California's and San Diego's budget problems is caused by overlarge salaries and benefits for public employees. That's no surprise. But the union's power over the newspaper is tenuous at best.

The pension fund of the L.A. police officers and fire fighters is invested in the newspaper's owner to the tune of $30 million. The union claims that makes it part-owner of the newspaper.

"Since the very public employees they continually criticize are now their owners, we strongly believe that those who currently run the editorial pages should be replaced," Weber wrote in a March 26 letter to Platinum CEO Tom Gores.

Weber, in an interview, emphasized that the League is not demanding changes in the paper’s news coverage of the issue or in its staff of reporters. "It’s just these people on the opinion side. There is not even an attempt to be even-handed. They’re one step away from saying, ‘these public employees are parasites,’ " Weber said.

The newspaper and its owner, Platinum, told Weber to take a hike. You don't own a company unless you actually own the company. I'm sure the unions can find plenty of pro-parasite editorials up here at the L.A. Times, anyway. Or the Sacramento Bee.

posted by Gabriel Malor at 11:30 AM

| Access Comments