GUILD OFFICE MANAGER'S TENURE IS BRIEF
GOLDSTEIN RESIGNS

By TOM BUCKHAM

Less than five months after hiring on as Buffalo Newspaper Guild-CWA office manager, Carol A. Goldstein stepped aside in mid-June, leaving the top administrative post vacant for the second time since October.

Goldstein, who arrived in February after serving as business manager of nursing and laundry workers unions, succeeded Tina Destro, who resigned to take a position at MCI World Com, and had been expected to grow into the role of service representative.

But the Williamsville resident came to feel hamstrung by the union's policy – adopted after careful study following the difficult negotiations that produced the current contract – of giving the membership final say on all matters.

"When (the Guild) decided members were going to take more responsibility, they did a really good job of it," she said.

Goldstein, who in her previous union work was able to negotiate contracts and settle grievances pretty much on her own, found she was barred from cutting deals without local approval.

Were the limits of her authority made clear to her in the first place? Here's what Goldstein had to say:

"I don't think I was misled," she said, "but the Search Committee took great pains to assure me they wanted a qualified representative. They were really careful to make sure they got a person with those skills. My assumption was that if you're going to hire a rep, that person would be doing a representative's job."

In reality, she said, "the membership itself and the stewards and officers have taken on a lot of the rep's responsibilities. That's a good thing, but it almost negated what I was doing."

Goldstein felt limited to housekeeping the office at 120 Delaware Ave.

"From what I know about the job of union representative, I wasn't doing it," Goldstein said. "I'm not really a secretary. That's not my skill."

As she sees it, the Guild is conflicted about what it expects from the person who holds the administrative job.

"They pretty much have to figure out what they want: an officer manager, a secretarial person, a message taker, or an actual rep."

"My take on it is that the full-time rep thing wasn't really working out. I don't think a full-time person is really practical, not only for me but for the Guild."

That said, Goldstein believes "there are instances and times when another voice or a regular rep would be necessary," as in contract negotiations.

Labor relations at The Buffalo News have taken a turn for the better, thanks to "a decent working relationship" Goldstein cultivated with new Human Resources Manager Dan Farberman.

"More things can get done now," she said. "I don't think you're going to have that butting of heads, all the nonproductive stuff, that existed before. The proof of the pudding was when we went into a meeting with Human Resources (in early June) and got a tentative settlement on 90 percent of all the outstanding stuff in an hour."

Discussions with BNG President Bob DiCesare left the door open for her to continue with the Guild in a limited capacity, Goldstein said.

"We felt the solution might be that when a representative is needed, I could come back. I'd be more than happy to do that work. I offered myself on a per diem basis, probably working on some different level."