Blade, union reach pact on decision to outsource

131 to lose jobs when printing facility closes

8/2/2014

Officials with The Blade’s parent company said Friday that an agreement is in place with the 131 unionized employees who will lose their jobs later this year when The Blade shutters its downtown printing and production facilities.

No details of what that agreement includes were released.

“The Toledo Blade and the Joint Council of Newspaper Unions representing its production and trade union employees have reached an agreement over The Blade’s decision to send its printing and other associated production operations to a third-party printer and the effect of that decision on The Blade’s employees. The terms and conditions of this agreement are confidential,” Stephen B. Spolar, vice president of human resources and labor relations for Block Communications Inc., said in a statement.

Block Communications owns The Blade.

The company announced plans at the end of May to cease printing The Blade at the newspaper’s North Superior Street location as of Friday. However, that date has now been extended to on or about Sept. 1.

Mr. Spolar said Friday that the company does not yet have a printing contract in place.

“We’re still in the process,” he said. “People have been working diligently at it ... but no final decision has been made.”

Mr. Spolar declined to say how much money the company would save by making the move. However, he said it would be “significant.”

The affected employees are represented by seven different unions. Officials with the Toledo Joint Council of Newspaper Unions, an umbrella organization that covers the unions, declined to comment Friday evening.

Molly Rogers, vice president and treasurer of the Toledo Joint Council of Newspaper Unions, said the union’s attorney would release a statement later.