Newspaper strike, Detroit, Michigan, 1995-2000.

Action Coalition of Strikers Records

drice — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 12:09:15 -0500

The Action Coalition of Strikers (ACOS) was a rank-and-file group of strikers and their families who were active during the Detroit Newspaper Strike. Representing reporters, editors, pressmen, and truck drivers, the coalition opposed the newspaper union leadership and their proposed back-to-work offer and instead pressed forward with a campaign to fight to restore all lost jobs. They sponsored peaceful and disciplined mass demonstrations in support of the strikers, and published the weekly Detroit Sunday Journal from 1995-1999, selling copies throughout metro Detroit. They sought to win the broader labor movement’s participation in their struggle, and did enjoy continued support from other local and regional labor unions.

The records document the coalition’s activities from 1994-2001. Particular focus is given to the strikers' fight against replacement workers in an effort to bring economic, political and moral pressure on the newspaper companies (Gannett and Knight-Ridder) involved in the labor dispute. The records document ACOS strike participation through correspondence, court rulings, evidence of strikers' activities, publications, news clippings, and visual materials such as buttons, stickers, posters, and photographs.

Ellen Creager Papers

drice — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:40:38 -0500

Ellen Creager (b. 1956), a Detroit Free Press reporter, first joined the press as a copy editor in 1983 after earning her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Michigan State University; ultimately she was promoted to the position of general assignment reporter in the Features Department. The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News employees engaged in a strike against Gannett and Knight-Ridder newspaper chains beginning in July of 1995. Creager was working part-time when the strike began because she had four young children at home. Full-time reporters were called back to work after the strike effectively ended in February of 1997 with the unions' unconditional offer to return, but Creager's part-time position had been eliminated. In early 1998, Creager applied to return as a full-time reporter when a position opened in the Features Department; she returned to work nearly three years after the strike began. As of 2012, Creager continues as a reporter for the Features Department at the Detroit Free Press.

The Ellen Creager Papers document the strike from its beginning on July 13, 1995 until December, 1996, before the unions voted to return to work. Materials include news clippings, strike handbills and flyers, publication copies of The Detroit Sunday Journal and The Alliance, interview notes, correspondence, and hand-made picket signs.

Detroit Newspaper Strike Collection

dgolodner — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 11:11:17 -0500

The Detroit Newspaper Strike started on July 13, 1995 with six labor unions and around 2,500 workers striking against the Detroit's two primary newspapers, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press. The strike ended on February 14, 1997 and was finally resolved in court three years later with the federal courts reversing the NLRB ruling that the newspapers had engaged in unfair labor practices. During the strike, there were local boycotts, legal charges of unfair labor practices and violence. The newspapers continued to print papers while the strikers created their own newspaper called the Detroit Sunday Journal. By the end of 1995 those on strike started to cross the picket line and return to work, the newspapers hired replacement workers and began to print their papers in Toledo, away from strikers
blocking the printing facilities. After the strike was called off by the unions, management for the papers said they would not fire the replacement workers and only hired back strikers a few at a time.
This collection contains materials from three different strikers who deposited their materials at the Reuther Library.

Nancy E. Dunn Papers

drice — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:41:54 -0500

Nancy E. Dunn, a Detroit Free Press copy editor and journalist, was heavily involved during the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News newspaper strike in the 1990s. Dunn not only participated on the picket line, but also acted as a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions. The Nancy E. Dunn Papers document the strike/lockout from its inception in July 1995 through December 2000. Documents include administrative and audiovisual materials that reflect the strikers’ activities. These consist of court documents, correspondence, labor issues, status reports, newspaper clippings, and associated labor unions.

Thomas Bernick Papers

aorchard — Mon, 16 Feb 2015 15:09:42 -0500

Thomas Bernick was a journalist and active protester of The Detroit Newspaper Strike, which began on July 13, 1995 and lasted until 2000. An estimated 2,000 to 2,500 workers from six local unions joined the strike and participated in the lengthy battle against the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press in the courtroom. Battle outside the courtroom took place as well, with protesters making numerous reports of violence by a private security firm and the Sterling Heights Police Department. Journalists fought back by creating their own paper in 1996, the Detroit Sunday Journal. The Journal achieved a circulation of 300,000 in its first year and was widely hailed for reporting throughout its run, which ended in 1999.

In 1997, the unions ordered an unconditional return to work, but the newspapers chose to keep their replacement workers on staff, stating they would only hire strikers as positions opened up. The strike finally came to an end in 2000, but many of the strikers did not return to work for the newspapers, and the circulation of both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press was greatly reduced from that of the 1980s and early 1990s.

The Thomas Bernick Papers contains court documents, meeting materials, photocopies of articles about the strike, and a full series of the Alliance Strike Bulletin, a newspaper run by the Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions. Additionally, this collection holds correspondence, circulation numbers, strike-related periodicals, and meeting materials for the Workers Justice Committee, as well as many of the flyers and pamphlets distributed throughout the strike, both for and against it.

Todd Winge Papers

kschmeling — Mon, 09 Jul 2018 16:21:32 -0400

Todd Winge was an editor in the Detroit Free Press newsroom from 1994 through 1999. Prior to this he had received his Master's degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and had worked at several other newspapers across the country. Because not all editors in the Free Press newsroom were exempt employees, Todd was out on strike for several months in 1995 before returning to work. A few years later in 1999, Todd accepted a faculty position at his alma mater where he taught through 2004. He now lives in New Mexico where he works as an instructional designer building e-learning within the healthcare industry.

(32047) Demonstrations, Strikes, Detroit Newspaper Strike, 1996

mwallace — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:00:38 -0400

General Baker is escorted away as he demonstrates as a member of "Reader's United," a group formed to support the Detroit Newspaper Strike.

(32615) Newspaper strike picket line

gstrassel — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:14:50 -0500

New Voice rally with Sweeney and Teamsters at the Detroit Free Press strike in the spring of 1995.

SEIU Local 79 members picketing the Detroit Free Press in downtown Detroit.

(32616) Newspaper strike picket line

gstrassel — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:21:19 -0500

John Sweeney picketing the Detroit Free Press in downtown Detroit with members of the Newspaper Guild of Detroit Local 22, SEIU Local 79, and Teamsters Local 372 in 1995.

(32617) New Voice rally

gstrassel — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 16:27:47 -0500