This printer has built a small business into a successful enterprise while treating employees with respect.

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Building a small business into a successful enterprise while treating employees right

Over the past 14 years, James O'Malley and his wife have grown Print & Copy Center into a thriving business just outside Pittsburgh. This full-service printing shop produces thousands of jobs annually and prints everything from envelopes and letterhead to direct mail and political signs.

The owners are most proud of creating good, middle class jobs. Benefits negotiated in their union contract provide 10 employees with 401(k) matching funds, two weeks of vacation, six paid holidays, and bonuses. The O'Malley's have also raised wages and allowed for additional bereavement leave. These benefits, combined with a cooperative work environment, have led to great employee devotion. Many employees have worked at Print & Copy for 12 years or more, and most have logged over five years at the company.

O'Malley is confident that he can be competitive because of the quality of his employees' work and dedication to customer service. Seventy percent of his business is corporate, and he attributes his ability to juggle a large variety of clients to his pool of adept employees trained by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. “Most people fail to realize that unions make a big contribution to businesses through their apprentice program,” says O’Malley. “Every year, unions train thousands of young men and women, the next generation of workers, to go into the workforce.” The company’s good service, affordable prices, and repeat customers are a clear indication that Print & Copy is doing well by its clients.

O'Malley's willingness to share his company's prosperity with employees is at the core of his personal belief system, developed from his upbringing in a family of union firefighters, steelworkers, and police officers. "My father never knew his father because he worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. Without unions, life would still be like that today."

Honoring this principle, Print & Copy's owner supports the Employee Free Choice Act because he believes workers should have the right to join a union, without fear of reprisals. "There's a place for unions, which is to make a safe work environment and make sure people are paid fairly," asserts O'Malley. He has participated in press conference calls and appeared on a Pittsburgh radio program to urge the bill's passage. Print & Copy Center is a testament to how small businesses with unions can have a successful operation, a dedicated workforce, and a great reputation.