Guild Claims Bad-Faith Bargaining in Dayton

By Joe Strupp
Editor & Publisher
Exactly one year after launching a formal campaign to negotiate its first contract with the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News, the local Newspaper Guild has filed an unfair labor charge with the National Labor Relations Board.

The complaint accuses the Daily News of a string of unfair labor actions, including lying to staffers Thursday about a guild contract rejection.

"In fact, we told the company’s negotiators we were going to evaluate all of our options and they said they would wait to hear from us," Guild officials said in a statement. "Within minutes, the company broadcast its false claims."

Cox Ohio Publishing, a division of Cox Newspapers that publishes the paper, said management had offered a contract that included bonuses and raises and accused the union of not allowing members to vote on it.

"The company will continue to fulfill its duty to meet and bargain in good faith as soon as there is legitimate reason to resume negotiations," management said in a statement Friday. "Negotiations between COP and The Newspaper Guild have been ongoing since December 2006 when the Guild initiated talks after cooperatively working without a contract since 1989."

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