Alameda Newspapers, Inc. v. City of Oakland, Northern California Newspaper Guild, Local 52, Newspaper Guild, Intervenor-Appellant

Today we decide whether preemption law compels a City, against its wishes, to patronize a newspaper company embroiled in a bitter and divisive labor dispute with its employees. Our answer is that it does not. Specifically, we hold that the City of Oakland may determine as a matter of principle not to do business with Alameda Newspapers, Inc. during the course of a labor boycott, and that the City Council may suggest that the residents of Oakland do likewise. Although a City cannot regulate in an area governed by federal labor law or that Congress intended to be controlled solely by market forces, the City did not act in a regulatory manner in this case. The City Council simply proclaimed its views regarding the plight of the work force of the Oakland Tribune, announced its concern over the substantial loss of jobs both to the City and at the newspaper, and went on public record in support of the boycott. It also used its moral suasion to urge its citizens to back the boycott. Finally, the City determined to cancel its thirteen-odd subscriptions to the newspaper and to place its official advertising in other publications in the future. The district court held, on summary judgment,…