Detroit was the focus of the AFL-CIO's fourth annual Labor in the Pulpits Sunday on Labor Day weekend, with Vice Pres. Al Gore and federation Pres. John J. Sweeney weighing in on worker justice, labor law, and the use of scabs.

Pres. Jack Howe of Detroit 13N said he was pleased that Gore spoke directly to the Detroit newspaper dispute as well as the teachers strike in the city. Local 13N, Detroit-Toledo-Lansing 289M, and four other local unions have been fighting for fair contracts at Gannett's Detroit News, Knight Ridder's Detroit Free Press, and their joint operating agency, Detroit Newspapers, since July 1995.

Howe said that Gore and U.S. Labor Secy. Alexis Herman talked to locked-out mailer Benny Solomon and his family. Herman promised to follow through on some of Solomon's suggestions, Howe said.

The program was organized by Bishop Jesse Dewitt, president of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, and hosted by The Rev. Ed Rowe, the pastor of the Central United Methodist Church in Detroit and a leader in the Religious Leaders for Justice at Detroit Newspapers.

The newspaper lockout also figured prominently in "LaborFest," the day-long Labor Day celebration that is becoming a tradition in Detroit. Howe said the turnout this year was very large – about 100,000 people. "It seems like the newspaper strike has helped rejuvenate interest in labor in Detroit."

In addition to food, informational booths, contests, and other fun, the festival featured a parade led by striking teachers and locked-out newspaper workers and a free concert by Steve Earle and other popular bands.

The Detroit Sunday Journal reported that Gore, in his address at the Central United Methodist Church, said: "I can tell you of time after time where the majority in a workplace votes in a union and nothing happens for years. That's because every trick and loophole are used by those who want to deny fairness to the workers."

"When the law departs from justice, we need to change the law," Gore said. "We need to eliminate the practice of replacing striking workers."

In addition to Sweeney and Herman, Gore was joined at the church by U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.); Democratic U.S. House of Representatives members from Michigan John Dingell and Sander Levin; and Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer.

Gore later spoke at Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

In other news from Detroit, DSJ reported that the new report by the Audit Bureau of Circulations showed that the circulation of the joint Sunday edition of the News and Free Press dropped 3.5 percent over the period ending March 31, 1999.

Lou Mleczko, president of Newspaper Guild Local 22, said that the "numbers confirm what we've been saying all along. They need a settlement."

Contract talks have been continuing with the Teamsters locals. Meanwhile, Howe said, DN has been calling back more Teamsters in different classifications.

Howe said all of the remaining journeymen and apprentices in Local 13N have been at least been offered part-time work by DN. "For some reason, they still refuse to give the bulk of our people full-time employment," he said, adding: "Of course there's a board charge on that."

Photo by Rebecca Cook, Detroit Sunday Journal

Historical labor leaders Mother Jones and Walter Reuther are featured in the annual Labor Day parade in Detroit.