The Press: St. Louis Blues

When 200 A.F. of L. newspaper carriers went on strike last week, 816,048 St. Louisians went without their local newspapers. Readers of the Post-Dispatch, the Globe-Democrat and the Star-Times could get their surrender news by radio, from out-of-town papers, or do without.

The carriers had won collective bargaining rights from WLB, but the publishers refused to bargain with them, on the grounds that the carriers were independent merchants. Publishers told other employees that they were temporarily discharged for the duration of the strike, and entitled to no pay for standing by. It looked as if St. Louis publishers, alarmed by recent newspaper strikes in New York, Fort Wayne and Birmingham, had decided to get tough—with all the unionists in their employ.

The Newspaper Guild promptly cried “lockout,” voted to go on strike themselves, stay out till they got their back pay.