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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Center for Sacramento History
Title: Daniel F. Buckley typographical union strike collection
creator:
Buckley, Daniel F.
creator:
International Typographical Union. Local 46 (Central Valley, Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: MS0034
Physical Description:
2.75 Linear Feet
(3 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1938-1987
Date (bulk): 1978-1980
Collection is open for research use.
All requests to publish or quote from private collections held by the Center for Sacramento History (CSH) must be submitted
in writing to csh@cityofsacramento.org. Permission for publication is given on behalf of CSH as the owner of the physical
items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the patron.
No permission is necessary to publish or quote from public records.
[Identification of item], [box and folder number], Daniel F. Buckley typographical union strike collection, MS0034, Center
for Sacramento History.
Donated to the Center for Sacramento History in 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1993 from Daniel F. Buckley, former employee of the
Sacramento Bee (accessions 1986/077, 1987/094, 1988/074, 1993/032).
Processing and finding aid by Michelle Wallen, 2009.
The collection includes two picket signs (object # 1986/077/004), which are stored and cataloged separately from the archival
material.
McClatchy Company records, Center for Sacramento History
Biography / Administrative History
Daniel F. Buckley was born in 1923 and lived in the Sacramento region throughout his life. He graduated from McClatchy High
School in 1940 and became a newspaper printer, a profession which he continued for forty-seven years. At that time newspapers
were not yet using computers or lasers to print their daily editions, so printers were necessary to type the articles, create
the layouts, and work with heavy machinery.
Early in his career Buckley worked for the
North Sacramento Journal. During World War II he temporarily worked for a local Alaskan newspaper. After this he went on to work as a printer for
the
Sacramento Bee. He was a member of the Central Valley Typographical Union No. 46, which was a local branch of the International Typographical
Union. This union was founded in 1852 and included printers, pressmen, photo engravers, and other such newspaper employees
in the Sacramento region. In the mid 20th century this labor union and others like it began to grow, allowing them more bargaining
power against the newspaper owners. This occasionally led to conflicts between the newspaper employees and their employers.
One such conflict between the Sacramento Bee and Sacramento Mailers Union Local 31 escalated to the point of a strike on
April 17, 1978. McClatchy Newspapers, which owned of the
Sacramento Bee, and the Mailers Union had reached an impasse during strike negotiations. The printers of the Typographical Union soon joined
the strike and refused to cross picket lines in an attempt to show their support for the Mailers Union. Although these two
groups held different jobs and were members of different unions, they believed that it was important to show their solidarity
against McClatchy Newspapers, who they felt had recently become very anti-union towards its employees.
Dan Buckley, as a member of the Typographical Union, participated in the strike and even joined the picket lines. He took
photographs and made several notes regarding the scabs that crossed the picket lines. He also remained in contact with strike
leaders and other individuals in the community who were sympathetic towards the strikers' cause. To support his family Buckley
began to search for another job, and soon took a printing position with the
Sacramento Union newspaper. However, many of the other strikers had difficulty finding new jobs and feared the economic troubles that were
to come throughout the strike's duration.
The Mailers strike continued until an agreement could be reached in 1981. The Typographical Union did not reach an agreement
with McClatchy Newspapers until 1986. Dan Buckley never returned to the
Sacramento Bee, along with many of his former co-workers. A later legal agreement stated that McClatchy was required to hire back any of
the printers that had gone on strike, but this agreement was often ignored and the issue was tied up in legal battles for
many years to come.
The techniques of the newspaper printing industry began to change drastically during this time. The use of computers has
cut the number of printers necessary for the daily business of the
Sacramento Bee and other newspapers. As a result, the International Typographical Union was dissolved in 1986 and its remaining members
merged into larger, more diversified unions.
Scope and Content of Collection
The collection is arranged into five series: Correspondence, California Democratic Party Convention (1979), Personal, Strike
Materials, and Printed Materials.
Series 1. Correspondence. This series is made up of invitations, union correspondence, Sacramento Bee correspondence, and general strike Correspondence.
The date range for this series is 1978 to 1987. Included are event invitations from the Sacramento Bee and various labor unions;
letters exchanged by the International Typographical Union and Dan Buckley, as well as correspondence between other unions;
letters from the Sacramento Bee to various unions, employees, and subscribers; and correspondence related to the 1978 Sacramento
Bee strike, including letters that Dan Buckley wrote to friends and fellow union members about the 1978 Sacramento Bee strike,
and a letter from Pat Brown to the strike leaders discussing labor relations.
Series 2. California Democratic Party Convention. This series consists of items Dan Buckley obtained at the January 1979 Convention that took place in Sacramento. Included
are a press badge, a list of committee members, and a letter to the party from Vice President Mondale.
Series 3. Personal. This series includes reporter notes and certificates from 1960 to 1986. Reporter Notes consists of several small notebooks
that Dan Buckley used to take notes on news pieces as well as daily events on the picket line. There are also several papers
that include photograph descriptions. Certificates includes a participation certificate from the 1964 California State Fair
and Exposition and certificates from the International Typographical Union.
Series 4. Strike Materials. This series includes material related to strikes from 1971 to 1980, including bumper stickers, flyers, and posters from the
1978
Sacramento Bee strike; parodies of Christmas songs and poems that were changed to include lyrics about the suffering of the strikers during
the 1978 Christmas season; contracts between the
Sacramento Bee and local unions; a 1980 Book of Laws of the International Typographical Union; and a copy of a previous strike agreement.
Series 5. Printed Materials. The Printed materials series consists of several different newspapers and newsletters. he bulk of these are editions of
Catholic Herald,
Sacramento Bee,
Sacramento Union,
Sacramento Valley Union Labor Bulletin, and
The Worker Bee. Also included are a small number of issues of newspapers specific to certain regions or subjects, including the Sacramento
region, Bay Area, and labor unions. There are also several clippings and photocopied stories. The number of editions of each
newspaper varies widely, with the largest being the
Union Labor Bulletin,
Sacramento Union, and
The Worker Bee. All of the newspapers and newsletters date from 1978 to 1982, with the exception of
The Prospector, contained within Sacramento Region Newspapers, which dates from April 29, 1938. Many editions include articles that Dan
Buckley circled or underlined because of their relation to the ongoing strike.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Newspaper employees--Labor unions
Newspaper employees--Labor unions
Newspaper employees--Labor unions--United States
Strikes and lockouts--California
Strikes and lockouts--Newspapers
International Typographical Union. Local 46 (Central Valley, Calif.)
Sacramento bee (Sacramento, Calif.)
Sacramento Mailers Union Local 31