The1962–1963 New York City newspaper strike was astrike action within thenewspaper industry ofNew York City which ran from December 8, 1962 until March 31, 1963, lasting for a total of 114 days. Besides protesting low wages, theunions wereresisting automation of theprinting presses.
The strike played a pivotal role in changing the attitude of the public to daily newspapers, leading to the demise of some papers and paved the way for new print publications and the start of all-news radio in theNew York Metropolitan Area.
A preliminary action took place whenThe Newspaper Guild went on strike against theDaily News just after midnight on November 1, 1962. Guild Vice PresidentThomas J. Murphy indicated that theDaily News had been singled out as the union's first target "because there we have had more aggravation, more agitation, more issues, more disputes and more anti-unionism from management".[1] TheDaily News was able to keep printing on November 2, 1962 by using the presses of theNew York Journal-American.[2] Workers at theDaily News settled their issues, accepting raises of $8 per week in talks mediated byUnited States Secretary of LaborW. Willard Wirtz, with employees receiving an added $4.25 per week in the first year, with an additional $3.75 weekly in the subsequent year, allowing the paper to start with a print run of 1.5 million copies, short of its nation-leading normal circulation of 2,075,000 copies.[3]
On December 4, 1962, negotiators representing the nine major newspapers offered a deal that combined an $8 increase in wages and benefits spread over two years, combined with changes in work procedures that would cut costs for the papers.[4] Union negotiators rejected the offer from the newspapers the following day, setting their requirement of a $16 weekly raise over two years, and set a deadline of midnight on December 8 if an agreement could not be reached before then.[5] Representatives of theFederal Mediation and Conciliation Service, including Frank H. Brown andStephen Schlossberg, attempted to help both sides reach agreement on December 6, with "the public interest" cited as justifying federal intervention.[6]
The strike began at 2 a.m. on December 8, when workers from the New York local of theInternational Typographical Union, led by their presidentBert Powers, walked out from theDaily News,New York Journal-American,The New York Times, andNew York World-Telegram & Sun. In addition, theNew York Daily Mirror,New York Herald Tribune,New York Post, theLong Island Star Journal, and theLong Island Daily Press all suspended operations on a voluntary basis. The newspapers kept their offer of an $8 increase per week spread over two years, while the unions were looking for a $38.82 increase in the two-year period.[7]
A number of publications were created or benefited from the strike.The New York Review of Books was created during the strike, issuing its first copies on February 21, 1963, with circulation reaching 75,000 during the strike, before retreating to between 50,000 and 60,000 following the strike. TheBrooklyn Eagle saw circulation grow from 50,000 to 390,000 before shrinking to 154,000 before it was hit with a separate deliverers' strike on June 27, 1963.[8]
Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright, a dramaticstage play written by playwrightPeter Feibleman premiered onBroadway at theBooth Theatre in 1962. Critically acclaimed, the play closed after only 33 performances, withThe New York Times saying that the play was "Fatally wounded by the newspaper strike in New York".[9]
Fortunato Pope, publisher of the Italian-language daily newspaperIl Progresso Italo-Americano, launched an English-language tabloid called theNew York Daily Report.
WABC-FM adopted a prototypicalall-news radio format during the 114-day strike, precedingWINS as the first station with an all-news format in New York City.[10]
Leonard Andrews, employed by a credit card company, the Uni-Serv Corporation, approached the company's customers about advertising in a publication he created calledThe New York Standard, the largest of several alternative papers published during the strike, reaching a peak circulation of more than 400,000 and appearing for 67 issues.[11] Other substitute newspapers wereThe New York Daily Report andThe New York Metropolitan Daily.[12]
Four papers had originally been the target of the strike, but five other papers suspended printing on a voluntary basis. TheNew York Post was able to resume printing on March 4, 1963, by withdrawing from the Publishers Association: they would be bound by whatever settlement the other papers made, and would have no further voice in negotiating it. TheNew York Herald Tribune published a statement that they had chosen not to resume publishing on the same terms because of the risk that the eventual settlement would put them out of business.[8][13]
New York MayorRobert F. Wagner Jr., and labor negotiatorTheodore W. Kheel were eventually able to forge an agreement to end the strike after several attempts. The first deal offered for ratification by the printers' union was rejected on March 17.[14] In another vote on March 24, they agreed to settle,[15] but by this time the photo engravers' union had decided to join the strike, and they did not settle until March 31.[16][17]
As publication resumed, the first headline in theDaily News was "We Have News for You".[17]
The printers would receive wage and benefit increases of $12.63 per week. Kheel noted that the contracts for all ten newspaper unions would expire on the same date in 1965, emphasizing the importance of addressing the festering labor issues.[8]
An analysis performed byThe New York Times showed that the nine affected newspapers lost a total of more than $100 million (equivalent to $1,027 million in 2024) in advertising and circulation revenues and that the industry's more than 19,000 employees lost $50 million in wages and benefits.[8]
After the strike was ended, both theTimes andHerald Tribune doubled their price to 10 cents, one of the factors that had cut readership. As of September 30, 1963, circulation of six daily New York papers was down 11.9% on weekdays and 8.3% on Sundays based on reports from theAudit Bureau of Circulations. TheJohn F. Kennedy assassination in November 1963 helped bring readers back to newspapers.[8]
TheNew York Daily Mirror, owned by theHearst Corporation, shut down on October 15, 1963, and sold its name and goodwill to theDaily News. TheMirror's management blamed the closure on the effects of the strike aggravating existing problems at the paper.[8]
Cue magazine (now part ofNew York magazine) saw weekly circulation rise by 35,000 a year after the strike started andTV Guide had seen a jump of 350,000.Time saw New York City circulation rise by 10%.[8]