Chicago Newspaper strike of 1912
Open-knowledge reference entry
The Chicago Newspaper strike of 1912 was a strike that ran from May until November. It was primarily held by the pressmen, and supported by other unions such as the stereotypers. The pressmen union attempted to bring attention to conglomerate newspaper publishers' attempts at breaking up printing unions.
Hearst takes over
William Randolph Hearst had opened up two newspapers in Chicago: an evening edition the Chicago American, and a morning edition the Chicago Examiner. Hearst Management had signed a joint contract for five years covering the printers, stereotypers, pressmen, engravers, and mailers. All but the pressmen were part of the International Typographical Union; the pressmen belonged to the International Printing Pressmen and Assistants' Union of North America.
In 1905 Hearst Management renewed an agreement separately with each organization for another five years. In 1910 at the contract's expiration the pressmen and other printing trade unions were made aware that Hearst Management wanted to come under the agreement with the Chicago Chapter of the American Newspaper Publishers' Association (ANPA), because they more favored Management, but the pressmen resisted the notion of joining the ANPA
Contract expires
In 1912 the Web Pressmen's Union No. 7 contract with the Hearst papers expired, and they requested a wage increase. Hearst Management and the union could not come to an agreement, so they entered arbitration with the Chicago Board of Trade's president Harry Wheeler, which resulted in a reduction of wages by 20-30%, in order to be more congruent with the prevailing wages of other Chicago newspapers.
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