by Tom Schram Journal Staff Writer 8/15/99
Ever since July of 1995, Detroit Newspapers, in an effort to staunch the bleeding in its community relations, has insisted that it will not close either the Detroit News or Detroit Free Press after the labor struggle ends.
It is, the DN has said, much more profitable to publish a morning paper and an afternoon paper, because you can then charge advertisers more for placing a single ad in both newspapers.
Last week, as the joint operating agreement in San Francisco fell apart, analysts gave the lie to that assertion.
In that city, the smaller daily, the afternoon Examiner owned by the Hearst Corp., bought the bigger morning paper, the Chronicle, putting an effective end to the JOA that was instituted in 1965.
The Hearst Corp. is now legally bound to try to sell the Examiner, but industry analysts are skeptical that a buyer can be found for the afternoon paper.
"Hearst is the clear winner here," John Morton, a newspaper analyst at John Morton & Associates, told the New York Times. "They are going to end up publishing the one newspaper in San Francisco. It will be much more profitable than the agency has ever been because they will be spared the expense of producing a second newspaper."
A similar scenario could be played out in Detroit, said Lou Mleczko, president of Detroit Newspaper Guild Local 22, one of six unions that went on strike in 1995.
"It goes without saying that there's nothing to prevent Gannett and Knight Ridder from doing something similar unless the antitrust division comes out of its coma," he said.
Mleczko said another possible scenario could mirror what happened in Miami, where the JOA between the Miami News and the Miami Herald came undone a decade ago. The News closed its doors and ended up with about a 12 percent share of the Herald's profit in perpetuity.
"The whole key to this thing is how vigorous the Justice Department would be in enforcing the terms of the JOA in Detroit," Mleczko said.
"But we could end up with one newspaper here with fewer employees and a diminished product. There's a certain foreboding about what is going on in San Francisco. It could happen in Detroit."
Moore support from Michael
Writer, actor and activist Michael Moore knows the fight ain't over yet.
Moore, author of "Roger & Me" and current star of "The Awful Truth," which airs on Bravo at 9 p.m. on Sundays, told a gathering in Flint last week that he is still a strong supporter of the labor struggle in Detroit.
"I have not bought the Detroit News or Detroit Free Press in four years. I have not read them. I will not talk to them. And I insist on a clause in my book and movie contracts that none of my work will be advertised in those papers," Moore told a meeting of the American Civil Liberties Union's Flint branch.
As for the eventual victor in the struggle, Moore says he has no doubts.
"Just hang in there. The strikers will win."
NOW president to speak at forum
Patricia Ireland, national president of National Organization for Women, will be the keynote speaker at the labor forum "Protect Your Rights 2000 -- Why We Fight for Workplace Justice" Saturday, Aug. 21, from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Barth Hall, 4800 Woodward Ave.
Sponsors of the forum are Detroit Edison Co. workers who are suing the company for race, sex and age discrimination; Ameritech Corp. workers suing that company for the same reasons; locked-out newspaper workers, and other union and rank and file workers.
Firms reach sweatshop pact
Four major retailers -- Nordstrom, Gymboree, Cutter & Buck and J. Crew -- reached an agreement in a class-action suit last week involving the firms' use of sweatshops.
The firms agreed to independent monitoring for minimum labor standards in the Northern Marianas Islands. The islands are a U.S. protectorate and a booming site for garment manufacturers. The suit claims that about 15,000 workers, most from mainland China, were being held in indentured servitude on the islands. The agreement calls for ensuring basic worker rights such as pay for overtime and access to safe food and water.
In addition, four other firms, Phillips-Van Heusen, Polo/Ralph Lauren, Chadwick's of Boston and Donna Karan International also reached agreement in principle.
However, 10 other companies, including retail giants the Gap and Wal-Mart say that they already are in compliance with the minimum standards and remain a part of the suit.
UAW focus on Ford?
With the death of UAW vice-president Jack Laskowski (see Page 2), Ford Motor Co. has become the likely lead target in negotiations between the UAW and the Big Three automakers, according to the New York Times.
The Times said last week that Laskowski's passing makes DaimlerChrysler AG -- where he headed negotiations -- unlikely to set the pattern. And relationships with General Motors Corp. and the union remain strained.
That leaves Ford to set the contract pattern, according to the Times.
The UAW represents 405,000 autoworkers. The national contract expires Sept. 14.