Newspaper Threatens To Replace Strikers

A year ago, The Detroit Free Press editorialized in favor of a federal law banning the use of replacement workers during strikes.

Now The Free Press is threatening to start permanently replacing its striking journalists if they do not return to work by 10 a.m. today. This is a sign of how severe the struggle has become in the month-old strike here against The Free Press and The Detroit News by six unions representing 2,500 pressmen, drivers, maintenance workers, reporters, and others.

But, even as management ratcheted up the pressure, federal mediators said Wednesday that they would sit down with both sides next Wednesday to establish a plan for negotiations. The two sides have met only once since the strike began, without making any headway in their disputes over pay, job security, and management prerogative.