The Star Tribune Company v. Minnesota Newspaper Guild Typographical Union

**What the case was about:** The Star Tribune newspaper had a dispute with its union, the Minnesota Newspaper Guild, over where freelance expert articles could be published. The union argued that based on past practice, these articles should only appear on the weather page, not in the general news sections. The Star Tribune disagreed and started publishing these freelance pieces throughout the newspaper. **What the court decided:** The court sided with the union. An arbitrator had already ruled that the Star Tribune violated its contract with workers by changing this long-standing practice without proper agreement. The newspaper appealed this decision, but the court upheld the arbitrator's ruling, confirming that the Tribune broke its collective bargaining agreement. **Why this matters for workers:** This case shows that employers can't simply ignore established workplace practices, even if they're not explicitly written in contracts. When unions and employers have followed certain procedures for years, those practices become part of the working agreement. Workers in unionized workplaces can rely on arbitration to enforce these established practices, and courts will generally support arbitrators' decisions when employers try to make unilateral changes to long-standing work arrangements.