The printing unions recognised that printers were crucial in the production process and that their withdrawal of labour could paralyse the whole operation, resulting in huge losses, and exploited this to boost their wages and power within the industry, through launching or threatening strike action whenever they wished to make concessions. This resulted in members of the major printing unions earning ridiculously high wages, compared to workers in other industries. The increasing wages meant that labour costs amounted to between 40% and 50% of the cost of putting a newspaper together.
An example of the printing union’s power is illustrated by an incident in the autumn of 1972, when the government introduced a short-term standstill on wages. The day before the freeze was due to be implemented, the NPA concluded a new wage agreement which gave the union an immediate wage increase of 8%, with a further 8% to follow the next year.
The increasing disputes between the unions and management made it increasingly likely that the management would search for a way to break the union’s hold on the industry, and bring an end to the ridiculously high labour costs. Therefore, making it more likely that newspaper owners would move away from Fleet Street and break the ties with the unions.
Technological advances also played a large part in the end of Fleet Street as the dominant newspaper centre. By 1975, facsimile transmission had been developed, which made it possible for there to be different printing centres away from the newspapers’ journalism headquarters, as when articles were written, they could be faxed through. This meant that newspapers could have printing plants all over the country, therefore reducing distribution costs as the newspapers would no longer have to be distributed all over the country from one printing centre in Fleet Street. For example, it was estimated that if the Sun was to open up a printing plant in Glasgow, for printing of the newspaper in Scotland, its management could save at least £3 million a year in distribution costs from London. This new technology also meant that profits could be boosted as newspapers could be distributed to new areas, which were not practical to distribute to from their London printing centres; so more newspapers could be sold as the paper’s circulation increased. Thus, technological advances contributed to the end of Fleet Street as the dominant newspaper centre as it weakened the need for Fleet Street to exist as a printing centre, and had economic advantages if printing centres were built around the country.
Political factors also played a part in the end of Fleet Street as the dominant news centre. This is because the election of 1979 brought into power the Conservative Party, headed by Margaret Thatcher, who supported management over unions and, thus, provided the political context for newspaper owners to reform the newspaper industry and end the power of the printing unions. The Conservative government, through its introduction of the Employment Acts of 1980 and 1982, which restricted the power of unions, and its actions in industrial disputes in the early 1980s, highlighted that if the newspaper industry was reformed, to reduce the power of printing unions, the government would do little to support the unions. Therefore, the new political was climate more receptive to the introduction of change and made it possible for newspaper owners, such as Murdoch, to reform the newspaper industry. Thus, making it more likely that newspapers would move away from Fleet Street and it would cease to be the dominant newspaper centre.
The “Wapping Revolution,” under which Rupert Murdoch reformed the newspaper industry was another factor in Fleet Street’s decline. The economic ambitions of Murdoch, owner of The Sun, News of The World, The Times, and The Sunday Times, were the factors which drove Murdoch to be the first proprietor to move his newspapers away from Fleet Street.
In 1985, Murdoch borrowed £670 million from New York’s Citicorp to buy the Metromedia TV stations. He could barely afford them, and needing money, realised his British newspapers provided the best opportunity to generate the revenue required to pay off his huge debts, which would cost the company $150 million a year. He characterised Fleet Street as “Three times the number of jobs, and five times the level of wages,” compared to the printing industries of other countries, and realised the economic potential his newspapers had if they were produced more effectively and reliably. He recognised this could be achieved if new technology was adopted, and if the economic problems created by the power of printing unions, were solved.
His economic pressures drove Murdoch to adopt the recently developed technology for a plant to be built in Wapping, East London, where all his national newspapers could be developed. 26th January 1986 marked the first decisive move away from Fleet Street, as Murdoch moved all his press operations away from Fleet Street to Wapping.
Murdoch reduced labour costs and ended the strong hold printing unions had on the industry by employing electricians from the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union (EEPTU) to staff his new plant, who would be cheaper to hire than members of the printing unions.
Rupert Murdoch’s success in defeating the Fleet Street unions largely contributed to the end of Fleet Street as the dominant newspaper centre, as all other national newspapers followed Murdoch’s example and moved to other sites, marking the end of Fleet Street as the centre of newspaper production in Britain.
The other national newspaper owners realised the benefits moving to another printing site, away from Fleet Street, had. More newspapers would be sold when the paper had an exclusive story, because if rival newspapers were housed elsewhere, they could not steal their scoops, and thus, couldn’t share the profits. The Royal Commission also highlighted the economic benefits of moving away from Fleet Street as it estimated that the total cost to the street of investing in the new equipment and paying off perhaps a third of its labour force might be about £50-55 million. Which, in the long run, would prove a worthwhile investment as the hold the printing unions had on the industry would be broken and, thus, labour costs would be reduced.
Recognising these benefits, most national newspaper publishers also sold their historic sites in the centre of London, and moved to cheaper properties. For example, just a week after Murdoch’s success, the Guardian announced that it would adopt new technology and move its production from Fleet Street to London’s Docklands.
In conclusion, 1989 marked the end of Fleet Street as the dominant newspaper production centre as this was when the last newspaper rolled off the printing press in Fleet Street. To a large extent this was caused by newspaper industry industrial relations between printing unions and the newspaper management. Although, it was not the only factor. The break from Fleet Street, in part to break the power of the printing unions and the economic problems they caused, would not have been possible without technological developments, a change in the political environment, the other economic benefits breaking from Fleet Street would create, and Murdoch proving that a move away from Fleet Street would be successful. But it was the economic pressures the printing unions put in newspaper owners that were the dominant factors persuading owners to move away from Fleet Street.
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