[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H4223]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES CHARGE UPHELD BY FEDERAL COURT

  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, I want to show a headline in the Detroit 
Sunday Journal. It says, ``Guilty, Judge Rules Paper Calls Strike. Ten 
Unfair Labor Practices Charge Upheld.''
  For almost 2 years now, over 2,000 families in Detroit have been on 
strike or have been locked out by the two largest newspaper chains in 
the country, the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, represented 
by Gannett and Knight-Ridder, 2,500 families, not able to support their 
families, feed their families, live a normal life. This strike has torn 
apart our community.
  But it is the community that came together over this period of time 
culminating in the verdict that was handed down by this Federal judge 
that said that these two large national corporations, Knight-Ridder and 
Gannett, violated, violated and were guilty of breaking the law and 
unfair labor practices.
  What was the response to that? Well, the response, Mr. Speaker, was 
that last weekend Action Motown put together a teach-in at Wayne State 
University that was packed, overflowing crowds. The next morning we 
went out and we protested at the homes of the CEO's who lived in Grosse 
Pointe. We protested at the police station in Sterling Heights, MI, 
where those police officers engaged in brutality against the workers 
who were striking at the plant.
  Then, Mr. Speaker, after these actions, over 100,000 people, we 
expected 50,000, but over 100,000 came out and marched in the streets 
of Detroit culminating in a rally in downtown Detroit where speakers 
from all over and workers from all over the country came. They came 
from Hawaii; farm workers came from California; steelworkers came from 
Pennsylvania; teachers came from New York, standing together in 
solidarity with their brothers and sisters who are trying to give their 
children the hope and the dignity of being afforded the opportunity to 
be represented in this society.
  We are losing our economic democracy, if we indeed have ever had it 
in this country. Little by little, benefits for people are being 
chipped away. They are being taken away in terms of health benefits. 
Mr. Speaker, 3,500 kids a day in America lose their health insurance 
because these types of corporations, the transnationals, the 
multinationals, the big corporations, are dropping health insurance. 
They are losing their pension benefits. Wages for 80 percent of our 
people in this country have been frozen for about the last 20 years. 
The top 20 percent are doing well, but the rest are lagging behind.
  So, Mr. Speaker, we said in this march and in this rally that we are 
coming together. It is happening all over the country. It is an untold 
story out there that people are organizing, whether it is in California 
with the strawberry workers or the poultry workers in North Carolina. 
Mr. Speaker, whether it is textile workers in the South or 
manufacturing workers or steelworkers in West Virginia or Ohio, or 
those at Caterpillar in Decatur and in western Illinois, people are 
coming together to recognize what is happening in this economy. Those 
in the top are doing very, very well, but the other 80 percent of 
America is struggling.
  So, I want to commend those who put on Action Motown, those who came 
together to organize on behalf of their brothers and sisters. They made 
a difference. They made a big difference. The Free Press' and the News' 
circulation has dropped by more than 50 percent since the strike began. 
Since the strike began, it has dropped more than 50 percent. They have 
lost over a half a billion dollars.
  When people act in unison, they have power. What we have to do is 
empower the people, the workers. They have a voice and they should be 
heard and they were heard this past weekend.
  So, I want to say to the Tom Bray's and the Joe Stroud's and the 
Jaske's and the Vega's and the Giles's and all the top executives at 
Knight-Ridder and Gannett: Obey the law, obey the law; you have been 
found guilty. Put those people back to work so they can take care of 
their families so we can bind the wounds in our community.
  Mr. Speaker, this is not me speaking; these were community leaders 
that were there. There were religious leaders there. There were labor 
leaders there. There were people who want to bind the wounds in our 
community. Obey the law. They were proven guilty. They should obey the 
law and put these people back to work.

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