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Chronicling America
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Newspaper Toledo Union Journal (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-Current

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About Toledo Union Journal (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-Current

The Toledo Union Journal was a publication hard won by the 26,500 Local 12 members of the United Auto Workers-Congress of Industrial Organizations (UAW-CIO) in Toledo, Ohio, who struggled for years to gain critical mass in membership and funds to start the paper. The Local 12 of the UAW-CIO, formerly known as Federal Labor Union 18384, is known for its participation in the Auto-Lite Strike and Battle of Toledo. In May 1934, automobile employees at Auto-Lite, the Spicer Manufacturing Company, Logan Gear, and Bingham Stamping unanimously voted to strike for increased wages and formal recognition of their newly formed union. Because only Spicer Manufacturing honored their promise to negotiate when the union members returned to work, strikes resumed, and the Ohio National Guard was called to break the strikes. After weeks of conflict, the remaining employers agreed to negotiate resolutions, and the Local 12 gained enough traction in the Toledo labor force to publish their own newspaper eight years later.

In its inaugural issue of November 27, 1942, the Toledo Union Journal featured a pledge to “[express] our opinions fearlessly, and fight to preserve and extend the gains which we have so painfully accumulated over the past nine years.” It also sought to restore public confidence in journalism generally, citing its distrust of “one newspaper towns” and the belief that monopolizing publishers often misrepresented and disparaged labor sentiments. In many issues, it heavily criticized the Toledo Blade for presenting disparaging stories about labor interests to the general public. Sometimes it published examples from the Blade to point out unfair language and challenge its editors to write, as it said, in “good taste.” The Journal aimed to cover both political and social interests to its readers, primarily unionized Toledo workers and their families. It also highlighted the union’s community outreach efforts, as seen in its July 1, 1955, issue, where the front page proudly showcased a new union-funded health clinic for its constituents. In addition to local affairs, the paper also printed entire policy updates from national union leaders to keep local members informed and involved during meetings.

The Toledo Union Journal was printed as an eight-column paper that averaged six to eight pages each Friday. Though it switched to a smaller, five-column paper that averaged 10-12 pages in October 1950, it returned to the eight-column format in June 1953. The Toledo Union Journal still publishes today as a monthly digital newsletter.

Provided By: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Toledo Union Journal (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-Current

Dates of Publication

  • 1942-current

Created / Published

  • Toledo, Ohio : U.A.W.-C.I.O. Local no. 12, 1942-

Headings

  • -  International Union, United Automobile Workers of America (CIO).--Local 12 (Toledo, Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  Labor unions--Ohio--Toledo--Newspapers
  • -  Toledo (Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  Lucas County (Ohio)--Newspapers
  • -  International Union, United Automobile Workers of America (CIO).--Local 12 (Toledo, Ohio)
  • -  Labor unions
  • -  Ohio--Lucas County
  • -  Ohio--Toledo
  • -  United States--Ohio--Lucas--Toledo

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Biweekly,
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (Nov. 27, 1942)-
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Latest issue consulted: Vol. 46, no. 29 (Aug. 5, 1988).

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations, portraits ; 58 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn82007637

OCLC Number

  • 6483970

ISSN Number

  • 0745-1989

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Toledo Union Journal Toledo, Ohio -Current. (Toledo, OH), Jan. 1 1942. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82007637/.

APA citation style:

(1942, January 1) Toledo Union Journal Toledo, Ohio -Current. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82007637/.

MLA citation style:

Toledo Union Journal Toledo, Ohio -Current. (Toledo, OH) 1 Jan. 1942. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn82007637/.