Lifetime Job Guarantee

By LEO V. OSMAR
Retired BJ composing room employee

When Knight-Ridder ceased to exist I assume the agreement between them and composing room employees was 'Gone With the Wind'. At that time to my knowledge there were six former co-workers still there: Rita Stapleton, Tom Cowman, Tim Earle, Mike Kernan, Denny Lazoran and a name that slips my mind. Perhaps it is of no interest to anyone, but years ago I put down memories of that agreement. Rather than have it get lost in the rest of my trash I send this copy on to you FYI. -- Leo Osmar

Akron Beacon Journal Composing Room Lifetime Job Guarantee

Possibly somewhere in my old foot locker or stashed away in forgotten papers is a copy of the contract existing between the Akron Beacon Journal Publishing Company and the Akron Typographical Union #182. I was a member of the Akron Typographical Union #182 and was employed at the Akron Beacon Journal in the department called The Composing Room. Any contract between the two parties had to have approval of the International Typographical Union before it became legally binding. In the more than century long history of contracts between the above mentioned parties there was only a one five day period of "strike."

Memory wants to tell me this happened in 1966, but that may not be so. At the time this happened my work schedule had me off duty all five of those days and I suffered no unforeseen financial burdens. Memory also tells me John S. Knight was in Pittsburgh recovering from a serious operation. When he received the news of this strike the telephone lines between Pittsburgh and The Akron Beacon Journal carried his simple message: End this strike.

JSK had spoken.

People did not argue.

The strike ended and the Akron Beacon Journal survived one of its dark moments. I have no idea what the strike was all about but some heads rolled when John S. Knight returned to his office.

I mention the contract existing between the above two parties. Some years later there was an additional agreement printed and inserted in our individual copies of said contract but was in no way connected too or part of the contract. It was not reviewed by International Typographical Union in Colorado Springs beforehand, but they overwhelmingly approved it after the fact. It was not a contract between the Beacon Journal Publishing Company and the Akron Typographical Union #182. It was an agreement between the Knight Ridder Publishing Company and each individual printer working in the Composing Room of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Each printer was given life tenure at the Beacon Journal regardless of any downswing in business, fire,flood or Act of God. If I find my copy I will insert it.

With that agreement I had my job assured until I decided when it was time for me to wrap up my tools and hang up my apron. At the time of the agreement there were perhaps 250 printers involved. Today, September 2002, there are perhaps less than a dozen persons left in what was at one time the most important department of the newspaper.

Now that I’ve created a lot of confusion I will attempt to tell how this ‘lifetime’ agreement came about. Not too many people are still walking around that could give some real details to the story. Charles ’Red’ Reeves was one of the main people involved. As I put this on paper he is still with us.Bernard Cox and Bernie White have been departed for years. Terry Dray and Dick Gresock may have been involved in the real paperwork and legwork. Bob Leach may Have been involved. I was not involved in any way.

My employment (as substitute) at the Akron Beacon Journal began, according to records, on August 7, 1965 and was given regular (situation) status On October 12, 1966. Prior to that I had worked at Adcraft Typographers located at 15 Broad Street in East Akron from April 5, 1960 until August 5, 1965.

On the wall in the composing room was a slip board with room for perhaps 400 small slips maybe 2"x1/2", each slip printed with the name of the printer and which category of the trade he was most proficient in: Linotype, compositor, proofread, proof press, etc., inserted in priority numerical order as to the beginning date of employment. My slip was perhaps #306.

To place your name on the slip board you had to be a member of the International Typographical Union and hold a current Traveling Card from the local union from which you had come: Chicago, Detroit, Youngstown, Boston, San Diago, etc., etc. I was a member of the Akron Typographical Union so I did not need a Traveling Card. One stipulation was you were unemployed. This Traveling Card was assurance from the International Typographical Union that the bearer of the card was a competent and qualified craftsman capable of doing some or all of the different jobs existing in composing rooms of any newspaper or commercial printing shop.

By placing your name on the slip or "slug" board you were making yourself available for hire by any regular situation holder who may want to take a day off, or a week off, or a month off. And you also could be hired by the Chapel Chairman, with the Foreman’s approval, for the shift that was then in progress.If you worked for five shifts in a row or sporadically without ‘having your lights turned off’ – ‘getting a pink slip’ you were qualified to remain on the slip board.

My first night at the Beacon Journal introduced me to a new word in newspaper jargon. The word was ‘bogus’. This word referred to advertisements which were printed in the Beacon Journal but had been set prior by some other company and had needed little or no work done in the Beacon Journal Composing Room. I could relate to that. For example: while at Adcraft we set up much advertising for the rubber companies; Firestone, Goodyear, Goodrich, General, Seiberling. For the annual Indianapolis 500 race each rubber company would have ads proclaiming any of two or three of their drivers the winner of the race, and these ads were shipped all over the world waiting for the winner to cross the line . . . and then the proper ad, already produced and paid for, was inserted in a newspaper wherever without the newspaper supplying any of the necessary work to produce the ad.Newspapers and the International Union had known for many years that companies were being charged for composing room costs which did not exist. So the parties got together and invented or implemented this thing called ‘bogus’ which required the newspaper/union to keep copies of all ads which were preset somewhere else with the idea or stipulation that this ‘bogus’ would be used when necessary if ever occasion arose that there was not sufficient current advertising coming into the newspaper to keep employees of the composing room busy the union could reach into its ‘bogus’ library to keep printers from days off without pay.

A ‘bogus’ ad would be taken from the library and processed as it had just arrived as a new ad. It was processed through the cut room, sent to makeup where text was given specific typeface and dimensions prior to being sent to the Linotype and Ludlow machines for actual metal casting. From here this metal found its way to the ad alley where other printers composed it into the ad it was supposed to be, putting all the components in their proper places, with borders and any art work required. This completed, proofs of the finished product were pulled on equipment called a proof press and sent to proofreaders, who in turn proofread this ad for typographical errors or size errors

If errors were found, the proof found its way back through the different aspects of the composition process for corrections, reproofing, etc. until the ad was typographically correct and ready for newspaper publication. Records of this ad were updated as having been set and then the entire ad was destroyed . . . never to be worried about again.

By this process, when found necessary to use it, the newspaper was actually using moneys actually charged to advertisers and collected from advertisers for work never done . . . and the printers in the composing room were kept from being dismissed for a day or longer.

In the near 25 years I was employed in the Akron Beacon Journal Composing Room I have faint recollection of any of this ‘bogus’ ever being used. In the year_and_a_half that I was employed as a substitute printer I never was not hired by the other printers or the newspaper itself and I never missed a full weekly paycheck. ‘Bogus’ was there but it was unnecessary because there was always more work available than printers available to produce it. So much so that the Akron Beacon Journal initiated a lobster shift in the Composing Room.

Not long after my slugging up, the Composing Room personnel were advised that The Akron Beacon Journal had made a decision to Computerize. This meant that conversion was going to take place which would eliminate the ‘hot_metal process’ of composing room work to a new process called ‘cold_type. Simply, our centuries old method of producing printing were on the verge of extinction. The ‘paper_doll’ days were upon us. All this would take years and the company would keep us advised and up to date. The entire composing room staff would be retrained in priority order, at company expense and on company time to all aspects of this new ‘doomsday’ technology. We had nothing to worry about.

I’ll comment here, personally, that the later five_day strike had me more shook up than this bombshell that was dropped on us in 1965. I recall, that while still employed at Adcraft, our local Union #182 had foreseen, with the help of the International Union, this ominous threat to our livelihood and had initiated schools at our local headquarters to keep us abreast of technology. Not too many printers, other than from commercial shops, ever took advantage of this schooling.

The future was here, now. There was nothing we could do but roll with the punches as they came. A few heads with more than common sense realized that at some point in the future ‘bogus’ would be useless because the process would cease to exist. Local Union people and local Newspaper people began low key discussions on this ‘bogus’ issue and what to do to resolve.

I was never privy to any of this other than what was reported at local union meetings. What I may have inadvertently learned in confidence from persons at work who were involved in this process was kept in confidence.

This issue of ‘bogus’ concerned only those printers who were employed at the Akron Beacon Journal and none of the commercial printers, although all union printers in Akron belonged to Akron Local #182. Years of discussion led to the decision to have the ‘bogus’ evaluated to find some kind of monetary value. The Akron Beacon Journal would select perhaps a group of five people and Akron Typographical Union #182 would select a group of perhaps five people and these groups, working apart, would come to a conclusion as to how much money all this ‘bogus’ was worth.

Through all the years this ‘bogus’ had outgrown the space initially provided in the Beacon building and was stored in several places throughout the city and a time_consuming process was begun. Months of study by the two groups brought conclusions: The Beacon Group arrived at a figure of perhaps $ 12,000,000. The Union Group arrived at perhaps $ 15,000,000. A lot of money , but a discrepancy in final figures . . . so it was decide to select another group of different persons, chosen by both parties, let them study our ‘bogus’ and come to some monetary conclusion.

A year, maybe two, and a conclusion was reached. The ‘bogus’ material was valued by this group to be over $50,000,000.

Company lawyers and Union lawyers got together. No money transaction was possible because although the ‘bogus’ issue was and had been a part of contracts between Beacon Journal Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Knight Ridder Newspapers, and The International Typographical Union some of the printers belonging to Akron Typographical Union #182 were not connected with the Akron Beacon Journal in any way. Therefore some kind of settlement had to be made without regard to them.

Earlier I mentioned he contract existing between the above two parties. There was an additional agreement printed and inserted in our individual copies of said contract but was in no way connected too or part of the International Contract. It was not reviewed by International Typographical Union in Colorado Springs beforehand, but they overwhelmingly approved it after the fact. It was not a contract between the Beacon Journal Publishing Company and the Akron Typographical Union #182. It was an agreement between the Knight Ridder Publishing Company and each individual printer working in the Composing Room of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Each printer was given life tenure at the Beacon Journal, regardless of any downswing in business, fire, flood or Act of God.

If I can find my copy I will insert it.

With that agreement I had my job assured until I decided when it was time I want to wrap up my tools and hang up my apron.

At the time of the agreement there were perhaps 250 printers involved. Today, September 2002 there are perhaps less than a dozen persons left in what was at one time the most important department of the newspaper.