The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Monday morning ruled for the journalists of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh in the federal case behind their more than three-year strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The three-judge panel hearing the case ruled against the PG’s petition for a review of its order this spring that the PG restore a health care plan that was considered a major victory for the workers. Writing for the panel, Judge Cindy Chung concluded that “we will deny the petition for review and grant the application for enforcement” of the National Labor Relations Board ruling for the strikers in September 2024.

The judges affirmed that, per that NLRB ruling, which upheld an NLRB administrative judge’s ruling in January 2023, that the PG acted unlawfully by contract bargaining in bad faith and in declaring an impasse to contract negotiations and imposing conditions.

Now the PG must restore the previous contract, including the journalists’ health care coverage, and bargain with the union for a new contract, at the union’s request, before making changes to employees’ terms and conditions of employment. Restored will be bargained-for provisions the company had eliminated or reduced, such as a guaranteed 40-hour workweek, short-term disability time, paid time off and the right to fight discipline from managers and more.

Further, to paraphrase the NLRB, the PG must make employees whole for the loss of earnings and other benefits, and for any other direct or foreseeable pecuniary, or monetary, harms suffered as a result of the unlawful unilateral changes to their terms and conditions of employment; make whole any affected employee negotiators for any earnings lost while attending bargaining sessions during the time that the PG engaged in bad-faith bargaining; compensate the union for all bargaining expenses it incurred during the time that the PG engaged in bad-faith bargaining; make delinquent contributions to the applicable benefit funds; and post a remedial notice to employees. 

In the coming days, a lot will be happening, including a vote by the striking workers on when to return to work. But leaders of the local and its parent union, the NewsGuild-CWA, are saying this is the win the union prepared for during the longest ongoing strike in the country.

“When we walked out on strike in October 2022 it wasn’t just for us and our rights as workers. We were fighting for fair treatment for the future journalists in Pittsburgh and beyond,” said Andrew Goldstein, striking education reporter and Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh president. “Today’s victory vindicates our fight and shows that NewsGuild workers will never back down, no matter how long it takes.”

The release acknowledged the consistent “invaluable support” of community members, including more than $1 million in donations, and boycotting the newspaper, which is owned by the Block family.

“The Blocks’ shameless attempts at union busting failed again,” NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss said in the release.

“Striking this long is what standing up for ourselves and the many voices of Pittsburgh required,” said Natalie Duleba, striking copy editor and page designer and the Guild’s local secretary. “The relationships we’ve forged as striking journalists with each other and this community are invaluable. We plan to keep and strengthen them when we return to the Post-Gazette.”

In the meantime, the strike continues as the strikers demand that the PG follow the court’s order, which the local posted on its website: https://pghguild.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/gov.uscourts.ca3_.123742.100.0_1.pdf.

The court declined the NLRB’s petition to hold the PG in contempt for not following its order to restore the journalists’ previous health care plan, but Judge Chung wrote, “We clarify that this Court’s March 24, 2025, order, No. 24-2788, ECF No. 57, paragraph (c), requires that PG Publishing revert health insurance coverage for unit employees to the coverage provided prior to the unilateral implementation of terms ….”

The PG can petition the same panel of judges for a rehearing within 14 days, and it could technically seek to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but union leaders said they didn’t expect those actions to be fruitful.

A telephone call and email to the PG for comment have not been answered.

In a story posted on Monday evening on its website, the PG reported:

“If the ruling is allowed to stand, the company said in a statement issued Monday evening that the decision ‘will likely force the closure of the Post-Gazette — ending nearly 240 years of continuous service to the people of Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania.

“ ‘We will appeal to the full Third Circuit Court of Appeals,” the statement said. ‘We believe this ruling goes against both Third Circuit and Supreme Court precedent, and we are hopeful that the full Court will recognize the serious errors in the panel’s decision.’ ”  

This story will be updated as it develops.

The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.