Some 300 newsroom employees at the Contra Costa Times and former ANG newspapers will cast secret ballots on Friday to decide if they will be represented by the Guild. Below are some links to stories about the vote. If you know of other stories we should include here, please e-mail us because we’d like to have both sides.

Berkeley Daily Planet: By Richard Brenneman:, “Singleton has acquired the reputation of being a ruthless manager, and he pink-slipped workers at his earlier regional buys, rehiring some of the workers but invariably reducing his workforce in the process and eliminating seniority.”

E&P: By Joe Strupp: Less than two weeks after MediaNews Group employees at nine newspapers outside San Francisco petitioned to unionize, a union vote date has been set. Union-eligible employees at the Bay Area News Group-East Bay (BANG-EB), which includes nine MediaNews Group dailies in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, will vote on June 13 whether or not to be represented by a bargaining unit, according to a memo from John Armstrong, the group’s publisher.

Guild Web Site: By Josh Richman: “This Friday we face a momentous opportunity to take control of our own destinies as we move forward with our careers, our company and our industry. We expect the company’s e-mails, one-on-one lunches, group meetings and special events to continue until the last moment, making every effort to talk you out of this.”

Guild Web Site: By Rick Tulsky, Mercury News: “I’ve been on the staff of different newspapers for more than 30 years, both union and nonunion. And I can say unequivocally that reporters and editors are treated better at union papers. There is more protection built in for staff members against arbitrary decisions. There is less favoritism. And there is a sense among the staff that we have more of a voice.”