As they marched by the company's entrances, many stopped to wait for the trucks that were to deliver the ad-heavy editions of the holiday paper. Dozens of hired union-busters from the Vance Security firm looked on, and local police waited nearby as the strikers stopped each truck, which then took several minutes to inch forward through the crowd.

Members of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild walked out at the Times and Post-Intelligencer (P-I) November 21 after overwhelming membership votes to strike. The 971 striking Guild members work in circulation, advertising, and journalism, including reporters and photographers.

They struck after five months of negotiations during which the companies' final offer was virtually identical to their starting position. The companies demanded a six-year contract with average pay increases of $3.30 an hour over the length of the agreement. The union called for a three-year contract with $3.25 in raises. According to strikers on the picket line, some of the other issues that led them to strike are the two-tier wage system, the lack of sick leave or sick pay, and the need for improved pension benefits.

One of the strikers at the expanded picket line here expressed a sentiment that is often repeated by her fellow strikers. Maxx Ewing, a worker for 11 years in the classified ad department of the Times, explained that, while wages were important, the fight is also about something else: "It's about the way they treat us. It's about dignity. And because of that the people will stay out, because the truth is with us."

Others at the Bothell strike action included members of Teamsters Local 174 who are honoring the Guild lines, as well as unionists from the International Association of Machinists, United Food and Commercial Workers union, Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), Musicians union, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and other members of the King County Central Labor Council.  
 
Solidarity from former Boeing strikers
Many striking Guild members are especially appreciative of the solidarity from members of SPEEA, who struck Boeing for 40 days in February and March of this year and beat back the company's contract demands. The picket site at the printing plant, like the sites at the newspapers' offices, are marked by burn barrels provided by unionists from SPEEA who used these during their strike. Unlike the regular open barrels, these have covers and a long chimney extending above everyone's heads. When filled with burning wood, they produce a lot of heat and an impressive plume of orange smoke.

One of the best-received speakers at the union hall earlier in the evening was a member of SPEEA, who told the crowd that after the strike at Boeing he had learned that "you have to support your brothers and sisters every chance you get."

Spending a short time on the picket lines is enough to see the broad support for the strikers. Lani Mao, who has worked for nine years in the circulation department of the Seattle Times, brought her mother with her to the picket line the day after Thanksgiving. "I insisted on coming," said Louise, her mother. She added, "I was on strike at Marmaxx in Las Vegas a couple of years ago and we won the union and a $1.50 raise after one day on strike." She held the largest sign with four big letters on it--HONK. Car after car hit their horns as they cruised by, including bus drivers and truckers.

A young woman walked up with a carafe of tea for the pickets, explaining that she had previously worked at a coffee shop nearby. Several retirees were also walking on the line. Taxi drivers have stopped by and donated firewood, cookies, and pizza.

One of the strikers, Kim Pham, recently graduated from college and was hired as a newsroom copy aide at the P-I two weeks before the strike. "I'm supporting the labor movement," she said. "This is not only for the P-I. This is part of history. I wouldn't be learning what I'm learning here if I was in the office." Kim explained that earlier she had brought her roommates to the picket line and that they really liked being there.  
 
Owners out to weaken union
The owners of the Times and P-I have made it clear they are out to weaken the union, or worse. In their joint strike preparations, the companies erected eight-foot-high chain-link fences around their property and boarded up the first-floor windows. They hired replacement workers and Vance Security. This is the notorious union-busting outfit that has been used against striking coal miners, the Caterpillar strikers in Illinois, and many others.

In its November 23 issue, the P-I stated, "All full-time Times employees currently on the job are receiving an 'appreciation bonus' of $100 a day, plus overtime. 'We are reimbursing people in advance for the dislocations in life they are facing,' Sizemore said. The P-I's Oglesby said bonuses are planned at the conclusion of the strike" Mason Sizemore is the president of the Times and Roger Oglesby is the editor of the Post-Intelligencer.

Both papers have continued to publish during the strike even though their editions are sharply slimmed down, some as small as 24 pages. The papers are being distributed free, and in the first few days of the strike company phone lines were not available for subscription cancellations.

Teamsters Local 174, with 81 drivers, has refused to cross the Guild picket line. On the other hand, another Teamsters local has yet to take such a stand, and Graphics Communications Union Local 767M, which organizes the pressmen at the Times, has stayed on the job.

In a move to tap the broad solidarity for the strike, the Newspaper Guild has begun publishing the Seattle Union Record. First published online, the paper came out with its first print edition of 30,000 November 24. It carries general news articles as well as articles on the strike and from the picket line. It states, "This is not the first edition of the Seattle Union Record. We take the name from history. The original Union Record was a labor-backed paper during the era of the general strike of 1919, during which 65,000 Seattle workers silenced the city for five days."

The Eastside Journal, which had printed the November 24 issue of the Union Record, refused to print more issues after being contacted by Frank Blethen, publisher of the Times. The union has since announced that it found another printer for following editions.

Ernie Mailhot works in the meatpacking industry in Seattle.  
 
 
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