If they strike for any meaningful length of time (more than a few days), neither the Inquirer nor the Daily News will ever truly recover. In 1985, readers had little alternative other than to wait for the strike to end, and make do with a few TV stations and some radio news in the interim. In 2006, the amount of available competition for eyeballs and ears is practically unlimited, and a substantial number of those newspaper readers, once they sample what else is out there, will never go back. Philly news? I can get that online. Hell, the unions are even going to provide it for free! Comics? I can get those from any newspaper site in the country. Classifieds? Online. Sports? ESPN, or just USA TODAY in a pinch.
Maybe all the Iggles fans figured out that they can go online and trash the Iggles when they lose themselves as opposed to just reading it in the paper.