PAPER BOYCOTT IN SYDNEY

Southland Times, Issue 23320, 2 October 1937, Page 7

PAPER BOYCOTT IN SYDNEY

NO WEAKENING ON EITHER SIDE STRIKERS BURN THE SUN (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received October 1, 8.55 p.m.) SYDNEY, October 1. The second day of the newsagents’ and newsboys’ boycott of The Sun found no weakening on either side with the result that the city again is practic-. ally without an afternoon paper. It i> possible to buy the paper at The Sun office and the underground stations where the vendors are under contract to continue selling, but the net sales have fallen to a fraction of an ordinary day, while the raucous voices of newsboys are conspicuous by their absence. Large bundles of copies of The Sun were set on fire by strikers immediately they were unloaded from a lorry in Kogarah, a suburb. There were also a few bouts of fisticuffs between strikers and would-be volunteers. The newsagents declare The Sun management, aiming to extend home delivery, imposed conditions regarded by them as intolerable and uneconomical. Sir Hugh Benison, chairman of Sun Newspapers Limited, broadcast tonight and explained that the original dispute was with the Newsagents’ Association. He pointed out that the Sun Company wanted to improve its services with the public whereby the paper could be taken to the people rather than having to depend so largely on street vendors resulting in the present “deliberate attempt to boycott The Sun.” He announced that the company would now devise its own system of distributing the paper and would not capitulate to the boycott. SETTLEMENT EXPECTED (Received October 2, 1.30 a.m.) SYDNEY, October 1. Negotiations are proceeding tonight for a settlement of the newsagents’ and newsboys’ boycott of The Sun, and it is expected the trouble will be overcome overnight. The parties to the dispute broadcast tonight that a settlement is likely tomorrow.