Nation IN BRIEF : MICHIGAN : Union OKs Strike at Detroit Newspapers

Newspaper union members voted to authorize a strike against the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press on the eve of the newspapers’ scheduled merger of non-editorial operations. Teamsters officials said the strike was set for Thursday to give the employees time to get established under the new operations, set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. today under a joint operating agreement. Talks between the Detroit Newspaper Agency, which will run the papers’ combined operations, and the Newspaper Unity Coalition, representing the six largest News and Free Press locals, have broken off. The two sides were far apart on union wage demands.