Detroit newspaper strike of 1995–1997

Tension between the unions and management of Detroit's primary two newspapers had been building for several years. Management attempted to force out the unions by attempting to switch from employee distribution to independent contractors. The unions claimed management was engaging in unfair labor practices. Chris Rhomberg, a sociology professor at Fordham University, concludes in his book, The Broken Table, that management provoked the strike and had been preparing for several years. ==The strike==

On July 13, 1995, about 2,500 members of six different unions went on strike In Winter 1996, twenty-seven strikers were arrested for blocking Gannett Company's Port Huron, Michigan, printing facility for the USA Today regional edition. The company switched printing of that edition to a more secure facility in Toledo, Ohio. In September 1996, columnist and strike supporter, Susan Watson, was terminated from the Detroit Free Press for participating in a sitdown strike at the Detroit Free Press Building. The unions ended their strike on February 14, 1997. The strike was costly for the labor unions, such as the Teamsters paying about toward legal fees and strike benefits. ==Resolution and aftermath==

Following the strike, management indicated they would not fire any of the replacement workers, and would only hire strikers as positions became available. By April 1997, only 200 of the 2,000 striking workers had been rehired. The National Labor Relations Board ruled in 1997 that the newspapers had engaged in unfair labor practices. Federal courts in 2000 reversed the ruling after the newspapers appealed. The unions remain active at the papers, representing a majority of the employees under their jurisdiction. Ten years after the strike, the newspapers had still not recovered the lost circulation from the strike. ==References==