By: E&P Staff Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner jumped into a labor dispute on Monday -- involving The Blade and hundreds of its unionized employees.
The mayor brought management and union officials together for 30 minutes in his office on Monday morning, according to local TV reports. "I did so with the request that there be a news blackout for a few days on it while they just try to stay in a room and study their respective positions," said Mayor Finkbeiner, adding that he had "also asked that the advertising, the ads that have been running, be put on hold for a while."
About 600 workers at The Blade from seven of the eight unions there have been working without a contract. Employees have reportedly offered to take a 4% pay cut and rejected an offer from management for a 10% cut. Each side has run ads or posted billboards criticizing the other.
The Blade in Tuesday's edition reported:
"The newspaper, which is owned by Block Communications Inc., is bargaining on new contracts that affect about 500 workers. Contracts with six of the eight Blade unions expired March 21. The electricians' union agreed to a new contract July 10....
"Luann Sharp, spokesman for The Blade, said the company welcomes the LMC's involvement because the negotiations have bogged down and the company needs a resolution. 'We have asked that we move as quickly as possible, and we've told the outside mediators that time is important to the company, that it's a matter of survival, it's a matter of the newspaper's health,' Ms. Sharp said.
"Ron Garcia, president of the Toledo Council of Newspaper Unions umbrella organization, said the LMC involvement is a step forward, and credited the mayor and Mr. Mahaffey for bringing the two sides together. He stressed that the unions are willing to make monetary sacrifices to assist the company."
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