Feb. 21, 1963 - The newspaper blackout in the nation’s largest city, a printers’ strike that has kept New York’s nine major papers shut down for 76 days, was denounced by President Kennedy today as a situation which “has long since passed the point of public toleration.” Opening his press conference with the subject, the President urged settlement of the deadlock by an independent third party, a suggestion which was promptly accepted by the publishers but which the union president said left him “a little cold.” President Kennedy said it is clear that the striking AFL-CIO International Typographical union local 6 and its president, Bertram A. Powers, “insofar as anyone can understand his position, are attempting to impose a settlement which could shut down several newspapers in New York and throw thousands out of work.” Observing that both collective bargaining and mediation have failed, President Kennedy said “this is a situation which is bad for the union movement all over the country, bad for the newspaper managements, and bad for New York citizens.”
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