Evening star., 1950-04-27
Local Bargaining Key
To Averting Crises,
Publishers Are Told
by me Assoeiofed Press

NEW YORK, Apr!! 27.-Strike-
produced national crises can be
averted only by restoration of
local collective bargaining" men,
bers of the American Newspaper
Publishers Association were tcid
today.
A report by special standing
committee, presented at the
ANPA's annual convention, said
the solution of the problem of
strike-created emergencies was
as plain as the reason for its
existence"
But it is much more difficult
to restore local bargaining than
it is to maintain it" the report
said. Once lost, restoration of
local bargaining is nearly impos-
sible, except by Federal statute"
The committee. headed by
George N. Dale of the associations
Chicago office, said that labor dis
putes once were local, and that
therefore labor crises were linn
tied to individual communities.
Public Suffer Most.
But late years have produced
an innovation" the report added
Now that more industries bar
gain with employees on a Nation
wide basis, more labor disputes
create a national crisis"
In such situations, the report
said. "the public suffers most"
while management and labor
share the secondary loss"
Members of the committee are
Raymond B. Bottom of the New
port (Va) News. Press and Times
Herald; Benjamin J. Foley of the
Newark. N. j.. News, Bert N.
Honea Of the Fort Worth Star
Telegram, Franklin D. Schurz Of
the South Bend. Ind, Tribune and
H. P. Walls of the Sacramento,
Calf, Bee.
Their report, made on the clos
ing day of the convention, said
that so far. local bargaining by
newspapers has been preserved"
Not Involved as Group.
AS result. it said, newspapers
as a group have not been involved
In a Nation wide three way loss
for public. management and la
bor."
The report added that labor
relations in the newspaper busi-
ness have improved to q re-
markable extent during the past
year, whereas retrogression has
occurred in other industries"
The report said 81 strikes
against various newspapers began
in 1949, compared to 27 in 1948,
40 in 1947. 33 in 1916, and 40 in
1945. OF As current stoppages"
involving 81 newspapers, ~ of the
strikes were called by the Inter-
national Typographical Union
printers or mailers the report said.
I'm all instances" it added,
publication has been main
tanned"
The report said substitute print
ing processes have exploded the
long accepted belief that a print
ers' strike would force a news
paper to suspend publication.
Trend Toward No Pay Rise.
The 22-month printers strike
against Chicago's five newspapers,
which ended in the fall of 1949,
cost workers $13 million in lost
wages and the ITU $11 million in
strike expenses, the report said.
1t noted a trend toward no.
wage increase" in settlements
reached between newspapers and
unions in negotiations, and said
arbitration awards increasingly |
produce the same result"
The report added that arbitra-
tion has settled more disputes
in the newspaper business during
the past year than in any similar |
period for more than a decade"
The committeeman described |
various ANPA proceedings before
the National Labor Relations
Board and in the Federal courts
that were said to have maintained
local bargaining between unions
and newspapers.