Solidarity Network - August 1999
Locked-out workers at the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press commemorated the fourth anniversary of their strike-turned-lockout on July 13. Although the newspapers have recalled some of the 2,500 strikers since the unions offered to return to work in 1997, many others are still awaiting reinstatement. Among them are more than 100 fired for strike activity; the NLRB is slowly hearing their cases.
An NLRB judge ruled in 1997 that the strike was caused by management's unfair labor practices, and this opinion was upheld by the full board in 1998. The newspapers have refused to comply with the board's order to reinstate all strikers with back pay. The NLRB has asked the courts to enforce its order, a process that could taken many more months.
Although three of the six local unions involved in the struggle have reached agreement with the newspapers on some issues, such as an early retirement plan for Teamsters Local 372, they do not seem close to an overall settlement. The unions have some hope that the newspapers' mounting back pay bill will have a positive effect on their negotiating strategy. If the courts eventually uphold the NLRB's ruling, as seems likely, the papers will owe back pay from the date of the unions' return to work offer to those workers it has not recalled.
Supporters can help by continuing to boycott USA Today. USA Today is the largest paper in the Gannett chain, which also owns the Detroit News.
You can also help--and keep up-to-date on the situation--by subscribing to the Detroit Sunday Journal, the weekly newspaper published by the locked-out workers. In addition to its coverage of the lockout, the Journal carries other labor, community, and national news, plus sports, reviews, and more. Subscribe for three months for $15 or for six months for $30. Send your check or credit card number to: The Detroit Sunday Journal, Attn: Mail Subscriptions, 450 W. Fort, 2nd floor, Detroit, MI 48226. Phone 313/964-5655.
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