The strikers at the Detroit Free Press and News are making a united stand. They are fighting to protect their dignity, jobs, wages, working conditions, and the right to bargain jointly with the two newspapers. Will union labor produce Detroit's daily newspapers? In the eyes of thousands of workers in the area, the struggle is over this crucial question.
The response in the working class and even broader layers of society has been widespread solidarity with the strikers. Tens of thousands in the Detroit area have rejected the company's union busting by canceling their subscriptions to the two struck papers. The numerous acts of daily solidarity, from contributions by other unions to gestures of support by individual workers, are testimony to the example these fighting workers have set. As a result, the newspaper companies are hurting, as they lose readers, newsstand sales, and advertisers.
The fight has struck a chord among workers around the country because millions face deteriorating wages and conditions on the job. In factories and plants from coast to coast, unionists have faced assaults by bosses who want to be free to treat workers, not as human beings but as disposable machine parts. The Detroit newspaper workers have said, "No, we won't allow you to do that to us." By taking action, the strikers are showing it is possible to stand up to the bosses and the cops, gain broader support, and win.
The newspaper strike reinforces other labor battles such as the strike at Caterpillar by members of the United Auto Workers union. The Caterpillar workers have been striking for the past 14 months against similarly intransigent bosses out to cripple the union.
AFL-CIO leaders and many local unions have called for a national Solidarity Weekend in Detroit over the Labor Day holiday to back the newspaper strikers. A march and rally will take place there Saturday, September 2, and the traditional Labor Day parade will be held on Monday, September 4.
Unionists from other areas should get on buses and cars to be in Detroit that weekend. Students and other fighters for social justice - from those just getting back from the international youth festival in Cuba to those fighting against the death sentence imposed on Mumia Abu- Jamal - should join them too.
Labor Day rallies in other cities will also be an opportunity for working-class fighters to organize and demonstrate solidarity with this important labor battle and many other local union fights.