Times, Gents

Deadline for the "Thunderer"

Throughout its 195 years as the crisply formal dowager of Fleet Street, the Times of London has written a glorious history for itself. The newspaper reported the grim news of the doomed charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War and brought word to Britain of Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Alas, it appears that the "Thunderer," as the Times has long been known, may soon meet its own Waterloo. Last month the paper's proprietor, Lord Thomson of Fleet, announced that the Times (circ. 315,700) and its sister Sunday Times (circ. 1,418,500) would be shut down if buyers were not found by next March. Last week Thomson, 57, gave some teeth to that deadline: all offers must be submitted by Dec. 31 and, if a sale is not forthcoming, the papers will close, starting March 8.

Thomson argued that his ultimatum is necessary because of the papers' unruly and often anarchic unions. In 1978 alone, 74 work stoppages cost the papers $5.6 million. That year Thomson offered eight unions, representing some 4,000 employees of Times Newspapers Ltd., generous boosts in wages and benefits--if they would agree to gradual implementation of laborsaving technology, a new, fast-acting disputes procedure and a guarantee of uninterrupted production. When some unions balked at the compromise, Thomson suspended publication of both papers for eleven months during 1978 and 1979, a shutdown that cost the company some $82 million in pretax losses. A strike this year by the daily Times's journalists, their first ever, cost a further $ 1.4 million and is expected to bring 1980 pretax losses to $36 million. Meanwhile, rival Associated Newspapers Ltd. is blaming high production costs and continuing heavy losses for the demise last month of the 99-year-old Evening News (circ. 460,000). Brooded London's Financial Times: "The unions have, at the very least, crippled the goose which has laid many golden eggs."

To ensure that a new buyer would not inherit the same problems that have nagged Thomson for so long, he is hoping for a guarantee from the unions of future cooperation. Said Thomson last week: "Frankly, we've had more cooperation in production than we've had for years. It's rather bittersweet." So far, no potential buyer has stepped forward. Times Editor William Rees-Mogg, 52, is trying to organize a consortium of management and journalists to buy the daily, and has even received pledges of up to $480,000 from readers. But as the "Thunderer" itself editorialized: Potential proprietors are like "taxicabs--plentiful when the sun is shining, but scarce on a rainy day."

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