Santa Barbara paper loses another round 

The National Labor Relations Board has rejected claims that former employees of the Santa Barbara News-Press were wrong to call for a boycott of the paper.

In its decision, the board turned away a request to sanction the Graphics Communication Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters for what the paper called threatening and coercive actions when union members contacted advertisers and distributed leaflets asking people to boycott the paper until it reached an agreement with the union.

The actions followed a walkout by the paper’s top editors and the firing of numerous reporters who had complained that owner Wendy McCaw was interfering with news coverage.

The decision is the latest in a series of back-and-forth accusations and charges that stem from the initial walkout two years ago. Last month, a judge ruled that the paper violated labor laws in firing eight reporters.