Strikers Delay Detroit Newspaper Trucks : Labor: Union leaders call show of strength a ‘complete victory’ as walkout nears two-month mark. Management decries ‘mob rule.’

In a Labor Day weekend show of strength, some 3,000 striking Detroit newspaper workers and supporters blockaded a printing plant, delaying delivery trucks for more than 12 hours.

Union leaders claimed a significant victory Sunday in the bitter strike that has dragged on for more than seven weeks. Management condemned the protest and rushed to deliver Sunday’s combined editions of the Detroit News and Free Press.

“This has to be considered a complete victory,” said Al Derey, chairman of the Metropolitan Council of Newspaper Unions.

After the number of pickets dwindled to about 50 by about 8:30 a.m., police cleared a way for more than 50 large delivery trucks to pull out of the plant as the remaining demonstrators shouted angry slogans.

Trucks normally begin leaving the suburban plant by 8 p.m. on Saturday.

“I feel great,” said striker Robert Glaeser, a dispatcher at the plant for 12 years. “They didn’t have a truck move from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. Do you know how much it cost them?

“Yeah, we did a good job.”

Frank Vega, president and chief executive officer of Detroit Newspapers, characterized the protest as “mob rule and lawlessness.”

“We are outraged that the unions have encouraged their members to violate the law by not allowing us access to our facility,” Vega said.

Detroit Newspapers handles business and printing operations under a joint operating agreement for the Free Press, owned by Knight-Ridder Inc., and the Detroit News, owned by Gannett Co. Inc. Before the strike, the two papers published separately during the week and a combined edition on weekends. Since the walkout, a combined edition has been published all week.

The strike began July 13 when six unions representing about 2,500 workers walked off their jobs, mostly over wages and work rules. Talks were scheduled to resume Tuesday.

Union members had been working without contracts since their previous agreements were allowed to lapse on July 2. The contracts had been extended day to day since they expired April 30.

During talks, management sought significant cuts in the production and delivery work forces and a system that would put pay increases for newsroom employees largely on the basis of merit.

Union members balked, saying it was time for pay-backs after years of concessions when the newspapers, now profitable, were losing money in the early 1990s.

Management of Detroit Newspapers issued a statement Sunday apologizing to readers and advertisers for the delay in deliveries.

The newspapers’ joint strike edition is being produced and distributed by managers, about 1,100 replacement workers and workers who have crossed picket lines.

There was no immediate indication if advertisers would be forgiving of the late delivery to potential Sunday shoppers. Some companies pulled ads at the start of the strike but later resumed advertising.

After the union show of force began on Saturday, police tried just before 5 p.m. to force pickets back from the main gate. One officer’s face shield was hit by a brick and another officer was hit with a stick, Police Chief Thomas Derocha said. Neither was injured. At one point, police used pepper gas to quell some of the demonstrators.

Derocha said he would not risk officers’ safety to clear the way for the trucks.