U.K. Strike Continues

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32322, 13 June 1970, Page 11

U.K. Strike Continues

(N Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

LONDON, June 12.

Britain was without national newspapers for the third day today—less than a week from the General Election—in spite of another attempt to reach a strike settlement.

After more than 11 hours of talks, publishers and leaders of production unions adjourned early today, with no; sign of an end to the wage! dispute. Union leaders leaving the' meeting said that the strike was still on, and would not comment on the outlook. The Prime Minister (Mr Harold Wilson) arranged meetings with Mr Richard

Briginshaw the general secretary of the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades—who called the strike and the publishers’ chairman (Lord Goodman) before the resumption of negotiations today. Earlier he had said on a television programme that the newspaper dispute in Fleet Street was a classic example of an absence of enough thought by either side to real wage policies. “Fleet Street is a jungle,” he said. “We hope this can be settled.” j The silencing of the Lon-don-based national and evening newspapers, for the first time in 15 years, has worried leaders of all three major political parties. It deprives them of a mass readership for their arguments for votes I next Thursday.

There is also the danger

that a prolonged strike might cause several of Britain’s best-known newspapers to close.

The strike was called by the biggest production workers’ union, to back a demand for a 25 per cent pay increase.

The publishers said that this would be ruinous, and offered five per cent. This was rejected and, in spite of the Prime Minister’s intervention, the strike began. The major stumbling block in the negotiations is how to narrow the gap between the two sides on the pay issue and how to satisfy both the publishers and all the printing unions.

The Newspaper Publishers’ Association which has 20 members, would like to reach a settlement which would avoid further claims by individual unions.