Going Public & Beyond

On March 1, 2023, we delivered our letter of intent to organize to Mary. Our letter was accompanied by those of support from the Mayor of Cincinnati, Aftab Purval; City of Cincinnati Council member Reggie Harris, and a number of other community leaders. Because an overwhelming majority of staff signed cards in favor of our union, we also asked management to voluntarily recognize us. Federal law allows an employer to recognize a union after showing majority support by signed authorization cards.

March 1st was also the day our SOLAB social media accounts went live on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. AFSCME also set up a petition for people to sign to support us, which has now been signed by over 400 people!

As you’re probably aware, all staff received notice of a “voluntary informational meeting” to learn more about unions or ask questions on March 15th with Jason Hilliard, an attorney from Dinsmore & Shohl, a large national law firm with over 750 attorneys. When we were offered the opportunity to submit questions in advance of that meeting, we coordinated a list of questions and submitted them before the deadline on March 14. Later that day, the meeting was rescheduled. Ultimately, the meeting provided no new information and no questions were answered.

Our request for voluntary recognition has gone unanswered since March 1st. Therefore, on March 16th, we filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with AFSCME. This starts the process of having an NLRB conducted election. It is still our hope that our union will be recognized voluntarily.