Newspaper strike seems likely

As of last night, negotiations between leaders of 10 unions at The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News were stalled, and the possibility of a strike beginning this afternoon seemed likely. Marathon contract discussions at a Center City hotel over the weekend have not yet yielded tangible results, said Joseph Lyons, president of the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions. Talks were "very, very slow," Lyons said. "I can't say I'm optimistic." Philadelphia Newspaper Guild service representative David Baum said negotiations could still work. "There is always a possibility," Baum said last night. "Each side will have its plan ready." Lyons announced the call for a strike last Wednesday, saying the unions would negotiate with Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. – which owns the Inquirer and Daily News – around the clock until the afternoon deadline. But according to sources and the Guild's Negotiation Hotline, the weekend's bargaining made no progress towards settlements on noneconomic issues. Until Lyons' imposition of today's deadline, negotiations had been proceeding on a day-to-day basis since September 1, yielding no results. Among the unions' grievances are non-union workers doing jobs they feel should be staffed by union members, wage and benefits disputes and the issue of the company's jurisdiction in certain areas of distributing and staffing the newspaper. Union leaders, representing over 3,000 journalists, truck drivers, press operators and other workers, have said noneconomic issues would have to be settled before an agreement could be reached on economic issues. Marathon contract discussions at a Center City hotel over the weekend have not yet yielded tangible results, Lyons said. Talks were "very, very slow," Lyons said. "I can't say I'm optimistic." Philadelphia Newspaper Guild service representative David Baum said negotiations could still work. "There is always a possibility," Baum said last night. "Each side will have its plan ready." PNI has said a small non-union staff will continue publishing newspapers at its suburban Philadelphia printing plant if there is a strike. Union members have said they will attempt to block distribution of the newspapers. In 1985, a strike at PNI lasted 46 days.