Progress in Phila. newpapers' talks.

(From AFX Europe (Focus))

PHILADELPHIA (AFX) -

Editorial employees at Philadelphia's two largest newspapers picked up picketing assignments Thursday in preparation for a possible strike even as union leaders reported progress in negotiations just hours before their contract was to expire.

"The process has begun," said Stu Bykofsky, spokesman for The Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia, which represents more than 900 employees at The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, including those in editorial, advertising and circulation.

Guild president Henry Holcomb said progress had been made in talks late Thursday but would not provide further detail. Management had reported progress a day earlier but issued no new statements as of 5 p.m. Thursday. The contract was to expire at midnight.

If there is a strike, the Guild won't have the official support of the papers' nine other unions, which extended talks for another week. Eight of those unions have reached tentative agreements on non-economic issues with management and the ninth was expected to do so by early next week.

"We think a strike is really going to hurt us," said Joe Lyons, president of the Philadelphia Council of Newspaper Unions, which represents all unions but the Guild. "We're going to go to work."