Colorado Compromise

Neither printers nor publishers wanted a strike, but Denver's local 49 of the International Typographical Union did want to keep the closed shop. And the Post, Rocky Mountain News and Catholic Register could not agree to that without violating the Taft-Hartley Act.

Local 49's secretary, William Mirise, found a way. First, the union made proposals on wages & hours, and they were officially ignored. Then the union's proposals, including a $10-a-week raise for daytime work, were put into effect by the three papers. No contract was signed, no closed shop "conditions of employment" were posted. Yet the closed shop was preserved, in effect, for any printer asking for a composing-room job will be referred to the union for a recommendation. Thus the issue that has caused strikes in Chicago and other cities was neatly evaded.

The secret, said Bill Mirise, was "a desire on both sides to get along. This plan would have worked in Chicago and saved a lot of trouble." Last week, it was working well enough in Denver to be copied in Pueblo, Colo, and Bakersfield, Calif.

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