Detroit Newspaper Strike

The Detroit Newspaper Strike was a major labor dispute which began in Detroit, Michigan on July 13, 1995 and involved several actions including a local boycott, corporate campaign, and legal charges of unfair labor practices. The primary action involved around 2,500 members of six labor unions going on strike from July 13, 1995 to February 14, 1997. The unions ended their strike on February 14, 1997, and it was resolved in court three years later, with the journalists' union losing its unfair labor practices case on appeal.

Tension between the unions and management of Detroit's primary two newspapers had been building for several years. Management attempted to force out the unions by attempting to switch from employee distribution to independent contractors. The unions claimed management was engaging in unfair labor practices. Chris Rhomberg, a sociology professor at Fordham University, concludes in his book, The Broken Table, that management provoked the strike and had been preparing for several years.Revolutionary Worker claimed that the owners had been planning as early as 1989 to significantly change the existing labor agreements with the unions. They cite the 1989 "Joint Operating Agreement" (JOA), which combined the non-editorial operations of the newspapers, as one example of those efforts. The agreement resulted in a 29% reduction in the workforce.

On July 13, 1995, about 2,500 members of six different unions went on strike after management indicated it would not discuss recent labor practice changes by Detroit News publisher, Robert Giles. The unions included The Newspaper Guild and the Teamsters, along with the pressmen, printers and Teamsters working for the "Detroit Newspapers" distribution arm. The papers lost approximately US$100,000,000 (equivalent to $152,446,103 in 2017) in the first six months of the strike.

The newspapers continued to publish during the strike, and aired commercials depicting "People Behind the Paper". The strikers published a competing weekly newspaper, the Detroit Sunday Journal. By October, about 40% of the editorial staffers had crossed the picket line, and many trickled back over the next months, including Mitch Albom - who wrote a column urging an end to the strike, while others stayed during the duration of the strike. The newspapers hired replacement workers, spent approximately US$40,000,000 (equivalent to $60,978,441 in 2017) on private security, and provided the police department in Sterling Heights, Michigan - where a production plant was located - with US$1,000,000 (equivalent to $1,524,461 in 2017).