To protest the Cox-owned Dayton (Ohio) Daily News' refusal to bargain in good faith with a mailroom unit, Midwest Newspaper 128N has scheduled a rally on July 28 in Dayton.

At the same time, Atlanta locals 527S and 8M are organizing an informational picket line at Cox' headquarters in Atlanta.

Local 128N won a representation election for the mailroom employees at the Dayton Daily News a year ago after the Teamsters spent 11 years trying to get a contract for the group without success.

Local 128N Pres. Robert J. Bryan said the last bargaining session with Daily News representatives on April 19 provides a good example of the company's meanness with regard to employees. At that meeting, the company produced a proposal to reduce the mailroom workers' pay by 4 percent per year over the five-year life of the contract – a 20 percent pay reduction.

"These are people who haven't had a pay increase in 11 years," Bryan said. "It has been evidenced that management's motives and interests in all of this are driven simply by greed. It is obvious that Dayton Daily News does not want to negotiate a fair contract."

In addition to no wage increase, Bryan said, the company has subjected the mailroom employees to other "inhumane" treatment, such as 14-hour shifts with no overtime pay; no benefits for employees even though they work a "full-time" schedule of 40 hours; and moving shift schedules around from week to week.

Urging GCIU local leaders and members to attend the rally, Bryan said: "I would like to teach these corporate bullies that playing Robin Hood in reverse is in fact not a profitable game for them. Their efforts will not be rewarded while they capitalize on the misfortunes of their employees."

Bryan said the local has filed numerous unfair labor practice charges against the company for its failure to bargain over terms and conditions of employment, including: raising employees' share of health insurance costs; eliminating paid lunch and break periods; decreasing paid lunch period time; and changing the shift schedule. The local also charged that the company failed to bargain in good faith by refusing to provide information necessary for bargaining.

The July 28 rally in Dayton, at which GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi is scheduled to speak, begins at noon at the Daily News business offices located at 45 S. Ludlow St. in downtown Dayton.

If there are questions, Bryan can be reached by phone at: 513/290-4249, cell or 513/251-9203, fax.