Newsroom workers vote to join union amid chaos

? The feud between newsroom employees and ownership at the Santa Barbara News-Press intensified Wednesday, with workers voting to join a union and management alleging employees may have been coerced.

The vote was the culmination of months’ worth of bad blood that spilled into public view last summer when nearly every top editor quit to protest what they claimed was meddling by owner Wendy McCaw. She has countered that the former employees had injected their personal views into news coverage.

The workers voted to join the Graphic Communications Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Attorney Ira Gottlieb, who represents the workers, said the tally was 33-6. A spokeswoman for McCaw would not confirm the total but acknowledged employees had voted for the union.

“This historic vote sends a serious message to the company that we are strong and united in our efforts,” the employees said.