Post-Christmas Package

The presses of New York City's nine major dailies were rolling again this week after the longest, costliest newspaper strike in the city's history.

By any standard, the 19-day walkout of the tightly knit, semiskilled Newspaper and Mail Deliverers' Union was a bitter blow. Most New Yorkers had to make do with radio and TV reports (TIME, Dec. 22, 29), which were often skimpy digests of wire-service stories. The nine papers (daily circ. 5,700,000; 8,100,000 on Sunday) laid off some 15,000 workers, who lost an estimated $4,000,000 in wages. Struck during the Christmas rush, the papers missed some $30 million in advertising. Wrote Publisher Arthur Hays Sulzberger of the Times in a whimsical office memo: "Last year I had a stroke. This year I have a strike. Next year I hope I'll have a 'streke' of better luck."

Making a mockery of the whole affair was the fact that neither the publishers nor the strikers won any ground in their struggle. Before the men walked out, the publishers offered a $7 wage boost over a two-year period, which was later turned down twice by the union members. The settlement was merely a rejiggering of the publishers' original offer: the union got a raise of $3.55 the first year, $1.75 the second, a ninth paid holiday (Columbus Day), and three days' paid sick leave. Estimated cost to the publishers: same as the $7, over-two-years, pre-Christmas package.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.