A few people have wondered if the Strib drivers' decision to authorize a strike means the paper would go digital-only in the event of a work stoppage.

That's a possibility if the strike spreads, but publisher Chris Harte made it pretty clear in his memo what Plan A is:

... we have preparations in place and would continue to operate if a strike were to occur. And while the Company would replace striking workers — at least temporarily and possibly permanently — in order to continue running its business for its other employees, advertisers and readers, we very much hope that it will not come to that.

(Apologies for burying this in my morning update.)

Not unreasonably, new media guru Jeff Jarvis posits two scenarios if the drivers go to the mattresses:

(A) This forces the paper out of business. They lose their jobs.

(B) This forces the paper to go online only and the company takes advantage of bankruptcy to kill contracts with not only drivers but also pressmen and everyone except journalists needed for online (not just fewer of the print staff but new jobs: blogging reporters and community organizers) and sales (not just the sales people you used to have, but people who can support networks of community sales). I’d also try to get out of my leases and every other cost burden and come out of the strike and bankruptcy as a newer and smaller but now profitable new kind of news organization.

If I were a manager at the Strib and had Plan B ready, I’d darned near hope the Teamsters go out on strike. Buh-bye now. Hello future.

Scenario (A) is always possible, and I'm told by a knowledgeable source not authorized to speak for the union that some drivers worried about just this last night. (The authorization vote was 76-30, my source says, which is a bigger majority than I would've guessed.)

Scenario (B) only happens if the strike sticks — even hardcores admit that's iffy. Unless we replay 1934 Minneapolis, there's a better-than-not chance pulp would still land on your doorstep. Of course, there's ample risk for both sides if the picket signs get broken out. Let's hope the brinksmanship leads to a fairer pension deal and perhaps sweeter buyouts.

Jarvis is all about print-is-dead, and it's hard not to look at the grim present and say let's just cut to the chase. The Strib's operating reports, filed each month in bankruptcy court, remain filled with red ink, and I'm not convinced the paper's emergence from Chapter 11 is a lock. (Much of the forward-looking business plan is redacted.)

However, management has had ample opportunity to pursue a digital-only future and passed. Instead, they've renegotiated deals that contain significant (though reduced) buyout money that deters wanton cutting.

Maybe it's all a game — get half a loaf now, and it's easier to grab the rest. Maybe they're hoping the PiPress fails first. Maybe creditors have let the lawyers and restructuring consultants drain cash reserves of $1.5 million to $2 million a month as the only way to win over a debtor-friendly court.

Or maybe print is a necessary component of the future; it remains the revenue champ (though that matters little without cost-cutting and debt-unburdening). Still, there's no guarantee digital-only will work for an established media company; the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's switchover is in its first, uncertain months.

Of course, if Scenario (B) is unrealistic, there's always Scenario (A) — assuming no one blinks. For now, we can only watch the staredown.