While many strikes and unions of the Gilded Age achieved very little and lost their fight to large corporations and monopolies, the Newsboy Strike of July 1899 stands as an example of a successful union even if the victory only led to a slight degree of change.
The Newsboys, often referred to as Newsies, were young boys, often orphans, who lived either in boarding houses or on the streets and sold newspapers in order to support themselves. The poor living conditions of Newsies reflected the adverse effects of child labor.
Everyday, the Newsies would buy newspapers in bulk from the largest newspapers of New York and sell them on the streets. The margin of profit was very little, as newspaper companies would not buy back newspapers the boys could not sell.
During the Spanish-American war, there was a rise in circulation given the more dramatic and relevant headlines. Newspaper presses took this opportunity to raise the price of the papers for the newsies. Given the high demand for the news, the Newsies were able to sustain themselves despite having to pay more for their papers. This situation proved to be unsustainable for the Newsies at the end of the war when circulation declined.
Press companies refused to lower their paper prices in response to the decline, threatening the financial stability of the newsies.
The newsboys formed a union to target two major printers in specific, William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Hundreds of newsboys refused to buy Hearst and Pulitzer papers until prices were lowered. The boys took to the streets, halting traffic and making it more difficult for the people of New York to get papers or proceed with their lives normally. Thousands across the state of New York joined the strike. Printers initially tried to hire Bowery bums to replace the striking Newsies, but many of these bums stood with the Newsies.
With circulation reduced to almost 30%, Hearst and Pulitzer decided to negotiate with the Newsies. Prices of papers remained the same but the printers promised to buy back any unsold papers at the end of each day.
While the overall condition of Newsies and other working children of New York stayed the same, the legacy of the Newsboy strike has lived on, inspiring many other strikes and the Disney movie, "Newsies" in 1992.
Sources:
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/story-newsies-strike-titans-pulitzer-hearst-article-1.2858550
https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/newsboys-strike/
I did not expect strikes about newspapers. This was a very interesting blog post. Something that caught my attention was the mention of both Hearst and Pulitzer, as they are both very familiar names. Pulitzer has the obvious Pulitzer Prize associated with him. Hearst is familiar due to the tourist attraction, Hearst Castle near San Simeon in California. Both Pulitzer and Hearst created some of the largest media companies, the New York World for Pulitzer, and Hearst Communications for Hearst.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.biography.com/media-figure/william-randolph-hearst
https://www.pulitzer.org/page/biography-joseph-pulitzer
I found this post very interesting considering the fact that this was one of the few examples of a union victory, as well as the fact that it was mostly conducted by children. During the days of protest, many organizations and talks were held surrounding the issue, such as a meeting at New Irving Hall. During this meeting, chants were sung and many empathized with the children through messages such as claims that asked if 10 cents really affected millionaires. The children also did not protest or terrorize female newspaper sellers, showing their solidarity and ability to group with other progressive movements.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/story-newsies-strike-titans-pulitzer-hearst-article-1.2858550