Newspaper Guildy of Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH—After more than three years out on strike, walking picket lines, gaining public and union support, and publishing their own strike paper, the news staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette walked back into the newsroom on Nov. 24.
The workers, members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, approved a legally required return-to-work offer by an 84%-16% margin on Nov. 20, before they walked back in. By law, the Block brothers, the right-wing co-owners of the paper, are forced to accept it and take them back.
But even though the Newspaper Guild staffers won in court what they demanded—restoration of the contract which expired in 2017, notably including raises and a better health care plan which the Blocks trashed three years after that, they still don’t have a new contract.
The old contract also included paid time off, a short-term disability plan, and the right to fight discipline from managers, among other collectively bargained workplace rights, the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh said. “The health care plan the company imposed effectively cut workers’ wages by thousands of dollars each year as the PG dumped costs onto its employees,” it added.
Had the Blocks resisted this order, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, acting to enforce an injunction against them which the National Labor Relations Board sought and won, could have levied heavy fines and even jail terms for contempt of court.
But the Blocks’ track record, in both Pittsburgh and at the other paper they own, the Toledo Blade in Ohio, indicates reaching a new contract may not be easy. The most recent Toledo contract took 17 years for the Guild there to win. The Blocks say they’ll appeal, but the 3rd Circuit ruling for the workers and the NLRB was unanimous, leaving them with little if any chance of winning.
The four other unions at the Post-Gazette who also walked out in October 2022 had settled for lesser terms, then dissolved their units there.
And the Blocks still must pay the returning workers plus any current Post-Gazette workers who decide to remain.
“The wheels of justice move nowhere near quickly enough. But it’s clear our sacrifice has made this day and the soon-to-be improved working conditions at the Post-Gazette possible. Every single step of the way, we have told the company and decisionmakers within it this is what would happen,” striking education reporter and Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh President Andrew Goldstein said in the Pittsburgh Guild’s announcement.
“They could’ve saved so much money and trouble by listening to us then. It’s certainly time for them to listen to us now, comply with the order, and get down to bargaining a new contract with the old contract in place.”
Support for the strikers during the longest strike in News Guild history was nationwide, especially from the Guild’s other locals. It totaled more than $1 million, including $100,000 in unspent contributions from tech workers at the New York Times when they won their strike there.
The strikers bade a fond farewell to their strike paper, the Pittsburgh Union Progress, with a front-page editorial of thanks to readers and advertisers—most of them unions and non-profit groups.
“The journalists were sustained by all the people, including our 4,472 newsletter subscribers, who read and looked at and shared our journalism, who sent story tips and pitches, who talked to us and commented on them,” their front-page editorial said. “Our 100 bylines include those of some of the best journalists anywhere, some of whom, as the legal process bogged down, chose to move on to other jobs and cities. We really miss them.
“We kept working every single day for 1,132 days, and that included a lot of nights and the wee hours of mornings, as our small but super sports staff fanned out to join other Western Pennsylvania sports lovers at the region’s basketball courts, baseball diamonds, and football fields. We remain all in with this community, whether people are winning a state championship or not winning one, suffering from the effects of the East Palestine derailment or the synagogue shooting trial, or fighting for their own rights and dignity. We did a lot of very good work and loved doing it.
“As we wrote in our ‘About’ section, ‘This publication will be shut down at the resolution of the labor disputes.’
“That time has come as we union journalists, having won in a court ruling what we sought to win, have voted to end the strike and return to work at the PG. We just want to say from the bottom of our hearts, thank you.”
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