BY CINDY JAQUITH
Michigan - The Detroit Newspaper Agency (DNA) was forced to ferry out by helicopter the September 10 Sunday edition of its scab paper as mass pickets kept the gate of its printing plant here closed from late Saturday afternoon, September 9, to 4:15 a.m. the following day.
Six unions are on strike against the Detroit Free Press and News, which managed by the DNA.
Some 2,000 people - strikers, other unionists, and supporters - turned out September 9 for what was called "Solidarity Saturday II." The previous Saturday, September 2, about 3,000 strikers and supporters kept the Sterling Heights plant gate closed from mid-afternoon to 8:30 a.m. the next day, rendering delivery of the Sunday edition almost useless.
A broad spectrum of unions from the area were represented on the September 9 picket line. Many union officials were on hand.
Hundreds of members and officials of the United Auto Workers (UAW) turned out, a large number of them serving as marshals. There were members of the United Steelworkers of America from the Great Lakes Steel and McClouth mills, as well as from the union's district office. Unionists also came from the Teamsters, International Association of Machinists (IAM); Detroit Federation of Teachers; Michigan Education Association; United Food and Commercial Workers(UFCW); American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees; Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees.
On September 13, Macomb Circuit Judge Raymond Cashen issued an injunction limiting the number of pickets at Gate 1 of the Sterling Heights plant to 10. This is the gate used by the DNA to bring scab vehicles in and out of the facility. The judge placed no restrictions on the size of picket lines anywhere else around the plant.
A "Solidarity Day III" rally has been called for September 16 to mobilize further labor support for the strikers. As the Militant goes to press, the striking unions were still discussing what form the demonstration would take in light of Cashen's injunction.
Twenty-five hundred workers at the two Detroit papers walked out July 13 when the company reneged on its promise to negotiate jointly with all six unions. The DNA is demanding deep job cuts, increased workload without adequate compensation, contracting out of work, and the right to hire nonunion labor at lower wages.
The company's goal was nakedly stated by Detroit News editor and publisher Robert Giles in an interview with the Cleveland Plain Dealer September 2. "We're going to hire a whole new work force and go on without unions, or they can surrender unconditionally and salvage what they can," he declared.
The company's open union busting and the strikers' resistance has aroused the Detroit-area labor movement. "The area is coming alive in support of the strike," said Gary Stuglin, who was at the September 9 picket. He works at a nearby auto plant.
"If they break the newspaper unions in Detroit, they can break unions anywhere," commented Cherie Boeneman, a grocery store worker and member of the UFCW.
Three Northwest Airlines workers who belong to IAM Lodge 141 turned out September 2 and again on September 9. Local vice-president Joyce Hilgendorf told the Militant she had also been to Camp Solidarity in West Virginia to support the United Mine Workers of America strike against Pittston Coal in 1989.
Confronted with the large turnout at the plant gates, the police made three initial probes to see if picketers would part to let through the convoy of scab trucks that normally passes through Gate 1 every hour.
At 7 p.m., 50 cops in five columns, without riot helmets or shields, advanced halfway across Mound Road, which borders the plant. Two squad cars stopped traffic.
"Union! Union!" the crowd began chanting. After about a minute, the cops returned to the median strip on Mound Road.
Twice more, the police marched halfway out, then withdrew. Each time, the motorists backed up on Mound Road and saluted the strikers' victory with loud honking.
At 8 p.m., two helicopters approached and landed inside the plant gates on company property. Ten minutes later, the cops directed the scab truck convoy that had been lined up to enter the gate to instead leave the area, to cheers of demonstrators. At 8:22 p.m., the first helicopter, loaded with copies of the Sunday edition, took off from the plant. Helicopters continued to ferry papers out through the night.
The company claimed the airlift "was a way to reduce tension and conflict."
"We just thought that using helicopters was a way to get papers out and cause less threats to people and property," said Susie Ellwood, vice- president for market development at the DNA.
The DNA's real attitude toward working people was revealed at 4:15 Sunday morning. Suddenly, the police put on full riot gear and five trucks driven by strikebreakers charged out of the gate. They gave no warning to some 200 picketers still blocking the driveway. Workers jumped or dove out of the way, within seconds of being run over and seriously injured or killed.
The outrage of working people over the DNA's disregard for human life has also been directed against the police. At a September 5 meeting of the Sterling Heights City Council, angry words were exchanged over the cops' assault on the picket line at Gate 1 the night before. Twenty-three strikers and supporters were arrested. Twelve were charged with unlawful assembly; five with inciting to riot; and others for disorderly conduct or resisting arrest.
Sterling Heights police chief Thomas Derocha defended the police actions that night, including blanketing the area with pepper and tear gas. He argued the cops had to "upgrade on the force continuum," according to the Detroit Journal, published by striking journalists.
`A public relations nightmare'
"This has been a public relations nightmare for us," said Derocha. "We are in a no-win situation, but there is nothing we can do about it. Our job is to enforce the law." City councilwoman Elaine Jankowski Arnold countered that the cops had provoked violence by gassing the protesters.
"Why wasn't he concerned for the neighbors who live across the street from the plant?" she asked. "Why no concern for the people driving by on their way home from a holiday? He didn't worry about children or infants in those cars who might get pepper spray and tear gas."
In another blow to the company's union busting, William Schaub, regional director of the National Labor Relations Board, Region 7, has issued an unfair labor practices finding against the DNA. Should Schaub's finding be upheld by the board, all strikers will be legally entitled to return to their jobs once the walkout has ended.
Cindy Jaquith is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 1299 in Ecorse, Michigan. Also contributing to this article was Dave Salner, a member of Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers union Local 3-276 in Clarksburg, West Virginia.