Negotiations over a contract broke down after a couple of bargaining sessions. The union was able to raise base wages, but broke down through high turnover of employees. The shop only employed 5 to 6 workers and in the course of just a few months all of the original employees left or were laid off. Printing and publishing remains one of Ann Arbor's chief industries. With the exception of two small shops employing less than a dozen workers, the entire industry remains unorganized.
Employers are committed to keeping the industry nonunion.
The GMB hopes to return to organizing in the printing trades in the future but since 1986 our resources have been focused on other industries. The University of Michigan is the single largest employer in Washtenaw County. It has a long history of union busting activity. As I write this story a nurse's strike at the U of M Hospital has been squelched by the courts, and service workers at the same hospital are continuing a three month informational picket. Organizing among U of M clericals goes back to the late 70's.