Murdoch Paper Strike Ended

One of Britain’s most bitter industrial disputes ended today when a second union involved in a yearlong battle against publisher Rupert Murdoch joined the country’s largest print workers’ union in abandoning the strike at his four national newspapers.

The dispute erupted in 1986 after Murdoch dismissed 5,500 striking print workers and moved the four papers almost overnight to a new high-technology printing plant in Wapping. The Society of Graphic and Allied Trades decided Thursday night it had neither the will nor the financial muscle to pursue the dispute. Its smaller, sister print union, the National Graphical Assn., joined it today.