The Chicago Newspaper Strike of 1912 is a strike that ran from May until November. It was a strike that was primarily held by the pressmen and was supported by other unions such as the stereotypers. The pressmen union attempted to bring attention to conglomerate newspaper publishers attempts to breaking up printing unions.
Contents
Hearst takes over
William Randolph Hearst had opened up two newspapers in Chicago one being an evening edition the Chicago American and a morning edition the Chicago Examiner. Hearst management had signed a joint contract for five years covering the printers, stereotypers, pressmen, engravers, and mailers. All but the pressmen were part of the International Typographical Union; the pressmen belonged to the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants’ Union of North America.
In 1905 Hearst management renewed an agreement separately with each organization for another five years. In 1910 at the contract’s expiration the pressmen and other printing trade unions were made aware that Hearst management wanted to come under the agreement with the Chicago Chapter of the American Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ANPA) due to the fact that this organization favored the management more which the pressmen did not like the idea of becoming part of the Chicago ANPA.
Contract expires
In 1912 the Web Pressmen’s Union No. 7 contract had expired with the Hearst papers and they chose to request a wage increase. The Hearst management nor the union could come to an agreement so the settled their terms through arbitration with the Chicago Board of Trade’s president Harry Wheeler, which resulted in reduced wages by 20-30% in order to place their wages closer to the prevailing wages of other Chicago newspapers, increased work hours, and Wheeler failed to give direction on the presses crew sizes which allowed Hearst to downsize the press from ten men to eight men. This crew reduction was the direct cause of the strike.
Strike or lockout?
On April 30, 1912 the Hearst management posted an announcement in their pressrooms that they had chosen to come under contract between the Web pressmen’s Union and the Chicago Chapter of the ANPA, at the direction of the union leader the pressmen continued working. On May 1 the Hearst Management posted that the contract would now reduce the men on the press from ten to eight men without having this approved by neither the union nor its members. At this announcement the men refused to work and walkout.
Hearst management stood behind their contracts and stated that the pressmen broke their contracts by working the night and then walking out in the morning, instead they urged the pressmen to file a formal complaint through an arbitration process. George L. Berry, the president of the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants’ Union came to Chicago to lead the pressmen strike and encouraged other unions to join the pressmen struggle.
A dispute arose between Berry and Hearst Management whether this was a strike or a lockout, where Hearst stood behind the contract that stated, “The employer shall in each case determine the number of men to be employed” where Berry argued that the rest of the clause stated that “but each decision shall be open to question by the union should he hereafter reduce the number below that he now employs on the press without at the same time adopting some additional labor-saving devices, attachment or improvement.”
Joining the strike
The Chicago Newspapers stood behind Hearst and locked out the pressmen of work, only the Scripps-McRae Day Book and the Socialist Newspapers kept their contracts with the pressmen. Web Pressmen Union No.7 were locked out and also stripped of the bargaining rights with Chicago publishers. On May 3, 1912 the Stereotypers’ Union No.4, The Delivery and Mail Drivers’ Union, and the Newsboys Union joined the walkout and joined the sympathetic strike.
The International Stereotypers’ and Electrotypers’ Union of North America did not sanction the strike and ordered the local Chicago Stereotypers’ Union No. 4 back to work while Union No.4 did not want to work with scabs or under police protection.
The Typographical Union No. 16 where pressured into joining the sympathetic strike, they placed it to a vote on May 19, 1912 and voted to remain on the job and honor their existing contracts. Berry saw that as a blow to side with the publishers that “are bending every means to disrupt the organizations they have locked out.” The Chicago Federation of Labor stood behind the pressmen strike and on June 2, 1912 they called out Union No. 16 for staying on the job.
The publishers continued to stand behind Hearst and placed the blame on the pressmen for breaking their contracts and not using the proper recourses for challenge the contract. Police were used to protect those willing to work on the presses by enforcing the distribution of papers also police brutality increased against picket lines, news boys, and union retailers Violence erupted caused by the special guards hired by the publishers which resulted in four deaths and others were seriously wounded.
The strike continues
Samuel Gomers called a meeting of the three major printing trades’ unions which were the pressmen, stereotypers, and typographers both local and national officers also in attendance was John Fitzpatrick, president of Chicago Federation of labor. Berry presented the pressmen’s’ problems at this meeting and the typographical union defended their stance in not joining the strike. Gompers met with the publishers in order to start negotiations of the strike but the publishers would not deal with the pressmen.
Berry attempted to widen the strike but was rejected by the New York locals of Pressmens’ Union that they would not break their contracts. Also the conditions of New York would not allow for a strike, even though they would want that strike to “force a settlement in Chicago”. At the convention Berry was warned about extending the strike to all Hearst papers because they would not be able to hold out against Hearst.
The AFL called for an end to the pressmen strike and once again attempted to negotiate with the publishers which they declined. The strike ended in November with the newsboys and delivery drivers back to work and the stereotypers signed a new contract with the Chicago publishers. The pressmen were left alone in the strike while the jobs where filled by nonunion pressmen.
Its significance was that labor unity could only do so much, Berry was not successful in creating a general strike and the division of work and unions was an advantage to the publishers and not the workers.