Union slams Dark Horse bid to shrink bargaining unit

Workers say the comics publisher is trying to remove experienced editors from the bargaining unit by assigning supervisory duties they never previously held.MILWAUKIE, Ore. (CN) — Two months after Dark Horse Comics recognized its newly formed union, Dark Horse Workers United says the publisher is trying to shrink that bargaining unit by reclassifying its senior editors as management.The union sees this move as an underhanded attempt to gut its membership, just as contract talks are getting underway.In a press release issued Thursday, the union said the company is claiming senior editors — who have “never been allowed management roles” and collectively represent more than a century of experience at the publisher — now qualify as supervisors under federal labor law. If the senior editors don’t accept the new supervisory duties, and the loss of union eligibility that comes with them, they face demotion and a pay cut.“Dark Horse is hoping to sidestep this by giving them supervisory responsibilities and acting as if they were there the whole time,” the union said in their press release, adding that it would fight for the affected editors and was calling on the company “to join us in good faith negotiations. No more underhanded attempts to reduce our union membership.”The dispute marks a sharp turn from the tone Dark Horse struck in June, when interim CEO Jay Komas agreed to voluntarily recognize Dark Horse Workers United, telling employees the company wanted to “enter into good faith bargaining.” The union said that promise hasn’t held up in practice.“Despite their public statement of looking forward to working with our union, our leadership’s actions have come across as hostile,” organizers said in a statement to Courthouse News this week.According to the union, all of Dark Horse’s senior editors received written “job clarifications” late Wednesday after receiving verbal notice the day before, laying out new supervisory duties: approving timecards, administering discipline and hiring and firing. Senior editors would be required to complete supervisory training to take on the responsibilities and have until Monday to decide.“Currently, senior editors do not exercise any supervisory authority," the organizers said. “The need for supervisory training is clearly a direct admission of such.”While senior editors often oversee associate and assistant editors on individual projects, the union says that day-to-day coordination has never come with the authority to hire, fire, discipline or approve pay — qualifications of supervisory status under Section 2(11) of the National Labor Relations Act, which determines who is excluded from union eligibility.The union says senior editors were given no say in the changes, and a union steward was reprimanded for trying to ask questions during meetings where new duties were discussed.Editors, the union said, were not offered the option of keeping their current title and pay without taking on the new duties: The choice is between accepting supervisory responsibility or stepping down to editor, with the accompanying pay cut. According to the union, Dark Horse has since told senior editors that refusing to take on the added duties while remaining in the senior editor role would result in termination.Dark Horse Workers United and its parent union, the Communications Workers of America, have characterized the reclassification as an attempt to shrink the number of employees eligible for the bargaining unit. The union said it submitted a petition raising the issue, which the company answered with what organizers described as “a very short refusal.”The union says this isn’t the first time it has tried to raise the status of senior editors with Dark Horse, one of the biggest comics publishers in the nation. During bargaining earlier this year over layoffs, the union said it attempted to bring senior editors into the conversation about unit inclusion and the company “firmly shut down” the discussion.“As of now, we do not have any certainty on the senior editors’ plans,” the organizers said. “They need time to decide, after all.”The union said it is exploring both legal action and collective action in response, though it did not specify what either might look like.Komas did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Categories / Employment, MediaSubscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads