The basic issue common to all branches of the striking union was the matter of job security.

But he added that they could be considered an "opening cannon shot" in the courts against the paper's nine striking unions.

"I think the guild made a mistake," he said of his unit's decision to join eight other striking unions.

The striking unions are campaigning to get advertisers to boycott the paper.

The following day, negotiations between The News and the nine striking unions were abandoned.

No independent agency has sustained the conspiracy charge, which the nine striking unions deny.

Eastern has said that its plan does not depend on the return to work of the striking unions.

The officials of the striking union are no less corrupt than the heedless capitalists who run the company.

But his speech was widely interpreted as a gesture of support for the striking unions.

Officials of the nine striking unions have renounced violence and urged their members not to break the law.