Rupert Murdoch Spurns Fleet St.

Press magnate Rupert Murdoch, who has successfully defied a printers’ strike, said Sunday he would never again produce any of his publications on Fleet St., traditional home of Britain’s national newspapers.

The unions, in response, said they were organizing to cut his circulation and take other action against the newspapers, even if it means breaking the law.

In a television interview, Murdoch said he would not reinstate the 6,000 printers he fired last week after their unions refused to sign a no-strike agreement and he would not allow print unions to organize in his new East London printing plant, which has the latest computer technology.

“I will never move back to Fleet St. Since leaving, I have felt a wonderful sense of freedom,” Murdoch said.

Murdoch switched production to the new plant last week and has been the first Fleet Street publisher to produce his newspapers in the face of a full-scale printers’ strike.

Brenda Dean, a print union leader, said Sunday that the unions are willing to break the law in their fight against Murdoch.