Delegates at the North American Newspaper Conference were urged to report repetitive stress injuries to the International union for tracking at the union-wide level.

NANC Pres. Brian Fletcher said there has been "an alarming increase in repetitive strain injuries in North America" among pressroom employees. He said many are related to the maintenance of the new offset presses.

"Be advised that it strikes regardless of age, sex or physical condition," Fletcher said. "The problem is definitely minimized by the installation of automatic blanket washers, an expense that the employer tries to avoid."

Brian Earl of Seattle 767M reported that a WebVac, which automatically vacuums contaminants off webs, was installed on a press at the Spokane Spokesman Review and helped to reduce injuries. "It's a real solution, in addition to automatic blanket washers, to members' shoulder injuries," he said.

Most of the problems reported by GCIU locals involved the Goss Colorliner press. "If paper wraps around the third – the middle – roller, it is really difficult to clean out," explained Boston 3N Recording Secy. Frank Rak. Rak said the Boston Globe invented a blanket washing system on for its Goss Metroliner presses that has reduced injuries.

Baltimore 31N Pres. Robert S. Stallings asked: "How can a manufacturer make a press that the safe, stop, and off buttons don't work because the reel is not working? It's time for us to take legal action."

Stallings read from the physical requirements listed in a newspaper's job posting for a journeyman pressman: ". . . Must be able to perform maintenance duties, installing blankets and installing and setting press rollers, etc. Extensive standing, stooping, climbing, bending, stretching. Must be able to climb up, in, and around presses. Must be able to life and carry up to 70 lbs. Must be able to help lift and carry at least 140 lb. press roller. Must be able to push newsprint rolls weighing up to 3,300 lbs on a four-wheeled paper dolly. Must be able to reach with arms extended above head for periods of time."

Stallings said the injuries recorded in his local over the past eight years include 15 knee replacements and even more arthroscopic knee surgeries and 10 rotator cuff surgeries requiring one to five months off work. He said most pressmen report shoulder pain.

Stallings said the "flags would go up" if it were a disease like cancer that was striking workers in the same job in one plant. "We are losing people due to injury faster than we can make new journeymen from apprentices," he said.