Signal Ohio Workers Walk Out Amidst Stalled Bargaining Talks

Signal Ohio journalists in three cities walked out of their jobs for two hours on Tuesday to protest what they say are delays in negotiating with management and management’s current insistence that each city be its own bargaining unit, instead of a single, unified group.

Since late August, roughly 14 full-time reporters—in Cleveland, Akron and Columbus—have pushed a union drive as a natural next step for the well-funded, three-year-old nonprofit journalism outlet. Signal has 35 employees total; 80 percent signed union cards.

Employees walked out at noon today after publicly chastising management for hiring Jackson Lewis, a law firm know for its aggressive anti-union tactics, to handle discussions instead of voluntarily recognzing the union.

The forming group, the Signal Ohio News Workers Guild, said they would bring the National Labor Relations Board into the mix if their single union isn’t recognized by 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

“We’ve tried to address issues in-house,” reporter Doug Brown, of Signal Akron, wrote. “But ultimately our union is made up of courageous people who have dedicated their careers to accountability, transparency, and community—so here we are.”

“It’s been a long, disappointing two weeks of silence from our leadership,” reporter Amy Morona said. “There’s still time for them to do the right thing by recognizing our statewide news organization as one bargaining unit.”

A message to Signal Ohio executives was not returned by Tuesday afternoon.

Late last week, in response to questions about the current state of negotiations, the organization issued a statement to Scene on behalf of Signal Ohio CEO Rita McNeil Danish and Board President Doug Ulman saying:

“Signal Ohio is a beacon of hope for local journalism after decades of decline in newsrooms. Local news is essential in our communities, and Signal Ohio is determined to be one of the leaders in forging that path forward.

“We respect unionization and the rights of any employee to explore joining a union, and we are committed to fostering a work environment of mutual respect, where all employees are fully informed and comfortable making their own decision about this very important issue.

“We have agreed to recognize the right of our employees to organize and while there are many details to work out, we look forward to negotiating through this process and reaching an agreement that is fair for all and continues to put the communities we are privileged to serve at the forefront.”

Some 28 Signal Ohio employees are set to join the Northeast Ohio NewsGuild, Local 34001 of Communications Workers of America. They would join four other Northeast Ohio newsrooms at Local 1, including the Canton Repository.