Jetroit dailies
strike after
negotiations fail

Wednesday, July 19, 1995 - The Michigan Daily - 3

y Christina Rieske
Daily Staff Reporter
The presses keep on rolling at The
Detroit News and The Detroit Free
Press, despite the loss of 2,500 union
newspaper workers who left their jobs
last Thursday after contract negotia-
tions came to a halt.
Relying on managers and replace-
ment workers, the
two papers have
ombined forces to " We have
produce a joint
daily edition. so many pc
Currently there .allin (
are no contract ne- Cauuing to
gotiations going on they couldi
between the dis-
puting parties. The through (oi
Detroit Newspaper . t
Agency, however, lines) to cc
announced yester- - D
ay that it would Teamsters Loc
contact striking
unions in an effort
to resume talks.
"If they can get negotiations going
within a week of the walkout that will be
a good sign," said Matt Fiorito, the com-
posing room editor at the Free Press who
went on strike six days ago.
Bob McGruder, managing editor of
the Free Press, said, "It has been difficult
ecause we just have the management
Wtaff of the Free Press left to produce the
paper."
By Monday, the Teamsters Local
372, now one of the six striking

e!
In
n
a
)e
cu

unions, had filed several unfair labor
practice suits with the National Labor
Relations Board, claiming the Detroit
newspapers failed to negotiate. Win-
ning these suits would ensure that the
workers on strike could not be re-
placed.
The striking unions have been work-
ing hard to persuade subscribers and ad-
vertisers to boy-
cott the papers
heard that until the contract
dispute is settled.
ople were The unions feel
confident that
ancel that they are gaining
i't get in both those ar-
eas.
phone "We are ask-
ing advertisers
incel. not to place ads.
nnis Romenoski ... People are
al 372 President supportive and
many are with-
drawing their
subscriptions.
We have heard that so many people were
calling to cancel that they can't even get
through (on the phone lines) to cancel,"
said Dennis Romenoski, president of
Teamsters Local 372.
Some advertisers, such as the Art Van
furniture stores, Gardner-White Furniture
and ABC Warehouses, have stopped ad-
vertising in the paper while others, such as
Ameritech, have chosen to stay neutral
while keeping their ads running.
The unions vow to try to keep the pa-

Members of the Teamsters Union picket against the Detroit Newspaper Agency.

per off the street.
"I think we are doing a good job of
shutting down distribution," Romenoski
said.
The DetroitNewspaperAgencyhow-
ever, vowed to keep publishing and dis-
tributing the paper.
"We will do what we needto do toget
our paper out," said Timothy Kelleher,
vice president of labor relations for the
Detroit Newspapers Agency.
Home delivery has been resumed
and retail establishments have their news
racks filled. The agency has tried to pro-
tect their publications against theft by
keeping papers out of street vending ma-
chines.
"There have been arrests of people
who have mugged carriers," Kelleher
said.

Contracts for printers, press opera-
tors, mailers, newsroom, maintenance
and photoengravers expired April 30,
1995. Disputes over across-the-board
pay raises, company supplements to
pensions, and job security are keeping a
settlement from being reached.
The Teamsters are concerned with
pay raises and potential job losses.
The Detroit Newspaper Agency wants
to change from an independent contract to
an agent system of distribution. The agent
system would give Teamsters larger geo-
graphical areas to cover for a set salary.
The continuing strike has been hard
on both striking and non-striking
newspaper workers. Some striking
workers said that they worry about lost
wages and the need to find new em-
ployment.

"If the strike lasts for two weeks it
will hurt me financially and within a
month I will have to try to find a new
job," Fiorito said.
The unions of striking workers
have also taken steps to help assure the
well-being of its workers. The Team-
sters have already begun to contact
other local Unions to help with job
placement for its members. They also
have a community service program de-
signed to help meet the needs of its
members.
The non-strikers are burdened with a
heavier work load and the knowledge that
friends, colleagues and even family can-
not return to work.
"No one likes it and people want it to
end. We would rather have those people
here with us," McGruder said.

E-mail use expands to parents

great scores...

By James Elworth
'or the Daily
In the popular imagination, the
Internet is often seen as a global commu-
nications network, connecting complete
strangers from far away places. Many
University students, however, are finding
that one of their first destinations on the
information superhighway is neither far
away nor unknown -it is home.
The growing popularity and accessi-
bility of electronic mail has allowed many
students to avoid long-distance telephone
*harges, and to communicate with their
families and friends through a fast and ef-
ficient medium that is reminiscent - if
only faintly - of old-fashioned letter-
writing.
Now the Information Technology Di-
vision and the Office of Orientation have
teamed up to help facilitate these on-line
exchanges, with an optional e-mail work-
shop for incoming students.
In past years, computer orientation has
Veen done with verbal presentations, not
with actual computers. "This is the first
year that we've actually had a hands-on
workshop," said Elizabeth Smalley, a
computer systems consultant at ITD.
"(The students) exchange messages with

each other right there in the classroom."
Parents also get an introduction to
computers at the University, but no
hands-on training. "One of the most
common questions parents ask is
'What's my child's e-mail address?"'
Smalley said.
The student workshops, held at the
Michigan Union Computing Site, are de-
signed to coincide with CRISP registra-
tion. When students go to CRISP at the
Union, they can get acquainted with the
University's computer system through the
e-mail workshops. And while the
University's infonnation network may be
overwhelming, the computers themselves
are not.
"They're all computer literate," said
ITD consultant Hai Hoang of the
orientees. "Most of them know their way
around a computer."
Students as well as parents ask about
e-mail addresses. "Almost half of them
ask right away about what their e-mail ad-
dress will be, and that shows that they
want to give it to people outside the Uni-
versity," Hoang said.
Students who completed the work-
shop yesterday seemed to agree on the two
most important e-mail correspondents -

parents and friends.
Orientee Amy Schwind from
Cheboygan said she was planning to com-
municate with both family and high
school friends through e-mail. "I'll be ex-
changing addresses with my friends from
other schools when I get home," she said.
Fellow Orientee Dan Kessler of East
Brunswick, N.J., said that he would
probably use e-mail more often with his
friends than with his parents. "I'll prob-
ably call my parents, and e-mail my
friends," he said.
While access to e-mail is generally
easy and widely available at colleges
and universities, it may be difficult for
many parents to get on-line. Hoang said
that a lot of families seem to have
Prodigy or America Online, two of the
most popular commercial on-line ser-
vices, but many do not have access to
the Internet.
Smalley said that parents often ask if
they can get a unigname and e-mail ac-
count. For the time being, however, they
will have to find other avenues of itternet
access. "ITD is working to provide access
for parents and alumni and others who
need to use U-M online services" Smalley
said.

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