Union strikes against Seattle newspapers

SEATTLE (AP) _ Hundreds of editorial, advertising and circulation workers went on strike early Tuesday against the city's two daily newspapers after contract negotiations stalled. <br><br>``Shut it

Tuesday, November 21st 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SEATTLE (AP) _ Hundreds of editorial, advertising and circulation workers went on strike early Tuesday against the city's two daily newspapers after contract negotiations stalled.

``Shut it down!'' members of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild chanted from picket lines outside The Seattle Times' downtown building.

The union last struck the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in 1936 and the Times in 1953.

The Guild, which represents 1,000 employees, has been without a labor contract since July 22. Talks adjourned Monday afternoon after a federal mediator realized no progress was being made, Guild spokesman Art Thiel said.

Union members voted for the strike action after a long meeting late Monday night. The two sides are divided on pay and other issues.

``The members overwhelmingly voted to turn down the federal mediator's proposal to hold off for two days,'' said Larry Hatfield, administrative officer of the Guild.

The two papers, which negotiate under a joint operating agreement, said they have hired temporary employees and would count on non-union members and managers to publish during the strike.

``There are no winners in a strike,'' Times President Mason Sizemore said. ``The newspaper suffers, the readers suffer and the employees suffer.''

The papers' Tuesday editions were printed before the strike began, but it was not immediately clear how well they were being distributed.

Sizemore said he expected other union workers, including members of Teamsters Local 174 who drive large delivery trucks, would honor the picket lines.

But operators of 7-Eleven stores in Kirkland and Redmond, suburbs east of Seattle, said their papers arrived without difficulty Tuesday morning.

A note on Tuesday's Times said, ``because of the labor situation at The Seattle Times, today's newspaper was printed earlier than usual.'' It referred readers to its Web site for late-breaking news.

The Times began boarding up its main downtown building Monday and removed newspaper boxes out front. Suburban newspapers had planned to publish additional copies.

The strike deadline was timed for the advertising-rich holiday period from Thanksgiving to Christmas. The Times put some advertising inserts planned for Thanksgiving editions in Monday papers.

Times reporter Michael Ohanion said he would honor picket lines, although he voted against the strike.

``The people in the newsroom are not in favor of the strike,'' he said. ``We really love our jobs. (But) we understand there are other departments that aren't treated as fairly.''

The 104-year-old Times and the 137-year-old Post-Intelligencer have been in an increasingly heated circulation war since the Times switched to morning distribution in March. The Times, a Blethen family enterprise that is 49.5 percent owned by Knight Ridder, publishes 225,700 copies daily. Its Hearst-owned competitor has a daily circulation of 175,800.

Currently, the average minimum wage for a Guild-member reporter with six years' experience is $844.88 per week, or $21.12 per hour.

The Guild had sought a three-year contract with an overall raise of $6.15 per hour. But the union lowered its demand to $3.25 over three years, Hatfield said.

The newspapers' final offer was an overall raise of $3.30 over a six-year period.

The union also had sought improvements in retirement, sick leave and other areas, and phaseout of a two-tier wage system that pays employees in some suburban bureaus less than those who work downtown.

Meanwhile, the newspapers reached a contract agreement Monday with a Teamsters local representing 460 mailers and sales and distribution workers. Ratification was pending.