Word: fleets
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...computer technology and reducing staff. Among other things, he insisted on a legally binding contract, a novelty for the print unions (agreements with British employers are traditionally bound by "trust and honor"). However, as London newspaper owners well know, those pacts do not halt costly stoppages. Last year the Fleet Street papers lost nearly 96 million copies in union disputes...
...between Murdoch and Brenda Dean, the head of the largest print union. In mid-January Murdoch inaugurated the Wapping plant by producing a special Sunday Times section (it hailed itself as "a landmark in British newspaper publishing"). Furious at this calculated taunt, the printers struck Murdoch's papers on Fleet Street, fully expecting to bring the proprietor to his knees...
...least, Murdoch has not made a misstep in quitting Fleet Street. Thatcher has praised him in the House of Commons, while opinion polls show little support for Dean and her followers. Unlike the miners, who attracted considerable sympathy during their strike, the printers are perceived by the public as overpaid and underworked. "Fleet Street is one of the great bastions of Luddism," observed a senior government official. "The print unions, which have rejected every attempt to adapt to the future, are now washed up on a very lonely shore...
...implications stretch beyond Wapping. As Murdoch proved by hiring electricians to replace the printers, the historic solidarity of the British union movement is cracking. Following Fleet Street's example, other recalcitrant unions, notably those representing teachers and autoworkers, may be forced to modify their demands. Some government officials even grandly predict international consequences. Said one: "If Fleet Street can move decisively with a minimum of fuss, British industry will clearly present a different image across the world...
...ship captains will need plenty of patience. Right now the world's fleet of tankers and other cargo vessels is 30% larger than necessary to do the amount of work available. The huge surplus of hulls for hire has put ship owners and builders into their most severe slump since the Great Depression. The battle for business has severely corroded cargo-hauling rates and the values of ships. It costs only about $7 today to move a ton of grain from New Orleans to Amsterdam, in contrast to $17 in 1981. Says Fernand Suykens, director general of the port...