Having won all their October of 2022 strike demands — thru the courts — strikers ready to get back to PG

PITTSBURGH — Striking workers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) sent their return to work offer to the company on Monday, heralding the end of the longest-running strike in the United States. They offered to return to work at the PG’s North Shore office on the morning of Monday, Nov. 24, and asked the company to inform strikers if they are being asked to report at a different time or place.

One week ago, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the PG to restore the terms of the 2014-17 contract that the paper illegally, unilaterally discarded in July of 2020, including the health care plan, some workers’ paid time off, the short-term disability plan, and the right to fight discipline from managers, among other collectively bargained workplace rights. 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.

Members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061) struck on Oct. 18, 2022, demanding the restoration of the 2014-17 contract terms and dignified health care. 

“The wheels of justice move nowhere near quickly enough. But it’s clear that 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 that this is what would happen,” said striking education reporter and Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh president Andrew Goldstein. “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.”

Unlike with the many previous rulings against the PG’s yearslong union-busting campaign, the 3rd Circuit Court’s order is backed by enforcement powers that include the ability to have non-compliant owners and managers detained as well as daily multiplying fines. The PG has stated its intent to appeal the ruling. But the court-ordered amount of compensation to workers — including those currently working at the PG — grows every day. 

Strikers voted on making the return to work offer last Thursday with 84 percent voting in favor.

When workers vote to end an unfair labor practice strike and make the kind of return to work offer given to the Post-Gazette on Monday, the struck employer has five days to make arrangements to bring the strikers back. If on the sixth day the company has not returned strikers to work, it begins to owe them pay and the cost of the benefits under which they would be working. 

In this case, that liability will ultimately be the wages and benefits of the contract terms striking workers won.

Throughout the three-year strike, neighbors, union members and supporters of the workers near and far have provided invaluable support by rallying with strikers, standing on picket lines and directly confronting PG managers and owners for a fair settlement. Many have provided financial support —donating more than $1 million — and boycotted the struck paper. 

Workers themselves have continued to publish their own coverage of Pittsburgh and beyond as the Pittsburgh Union Progress.

“While the Post-Gazette has spent the last several years tarnishing the paper’s reputation with the community it claims to serve, we have been able to restore and foster connections with Pittsburghers whose stories are often overlooked,” said striking copy editor and Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh first vice president Erin Hebert. “We look forward to returning to our jobs, uniting around a common goal of serving our community with strong union journalism, and working through whatever challenges we will face when we are back inside.”

Contact: PGHGuild@gmail.com

PITTSBURGH — Early in Tuesday night’s Allegheny County Council meeting, members of council issued a proclamation honoring the resilience of workers on strike from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

“The striking journalists — members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh — who have been holding the picket line for three years against ownership’s relentlessly lawless union-busting are vowing to stand strong on the picket line until Pittsburgh Post-Gazette leadership comes to its senses, quits breaking federal law, and restores their rights,” County Council Member-at-Large Bethany Hallam said, reading the proclamation. 

In addition to stressing the importance of local journalism, Tuesday night’s proclamation detailed some of the struggles strikers have faced, including local law enforcement physically breaking picket lines and executive editor Stan Wischnowski attempting — unsuccessfully — to prosecute one of his own reporters. 

On Oct. 18, 2022 members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh went out on strike against the company’s numerous violations of their rights and federal labor law. Throughout the strike, union editorial workers have demanded dignified health care and a restoration of the working conditions the PG illegally tore up five years ago.

In July of 2020, the PG imposed unilateral changes to editorial workers’ conditions that included forcing them onto a health care plan that cost families as much as an additional $13,000 or more per year. The imposed terms also took away a week of vacation from the most veteran workers, removed the bargained right to a guaranteed work week, stripped workers of their short-term disability plan as well as banked sick days, and eliminated union members’ jurisdiction over their work, among other issues.

Multiple authorities have ruled the company’s behavior illegal, including its bad faith bargaining. But most of those boards and judges lack enforcement power. In July of this year, however, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and Post-Gazette lawyers regarding the enforcement of an NLRB ruling ordering the PG to undo the illegally imposed terms, among other remedies for its attempts at union busting. The Circuit Court also held a contempt hearing regarding the PG’s refusal to comply with a March injunction issued by the same court that ordered the company to restore its previously bargained health care plan to all Guild bargaining unit employees — including those crossing the picket line. 

At the Philadelphia oral arguments in July, an attorney representing the paper failed to answer basic questions about the PG’s own arguments, and contradicted its own filings and reporting repeatedly. He also told judges the company had offered to show the Guild financial records that it had not. The same attorney drew a sharp scolding from one judge after the company lawyer spent several minutes quibbling with another judge about whether the angle of a cell phone held by a company-contracted security guard meant the contractor was surveilling workers or, as the attorney claimed, watching a video.

If the Circuit Court successfully enforces the previous NLRB board ruling, the strikers’ demands will have been met. 

Toward the end of the Tuesday night proclamation reading, Hallam went on to emphasize the importance of a strike victory for the community as a whole.

“The potential for a democratic society depends on us all having access to reliable, independently reported information in order to make decisions about our lives, and Post-Gazette leadership is actively working to undermine that possibility by perpetuating one of the most lawless union-busting operations in this country,” Hallam said, reading the proclamation. “By putting their fingers on the scale for ultra-wealthy people who violate the rights of our neighbors, public trust in the news is undermined at a time when — now more than ever — we need a shared understanding of reality with our neighbors.”
Strikers continue to produce award-winning local journalism in the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Community supporters, including many members of County Council, continue to aid in the strikers’ fight by maintaining a strike solidarity pledge of refusing to speak to the Post-Gazette.

 On Tuesday the U.S. 3rd Circuit court rejected two attempts by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) to evade its obligation to provide editorial workers the healthcare plan it illegally tore away from members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061) in 2020.

Last month the same court ordered the PG to restore that healthcare to all Guild bargaining unit employees. The order includes workers who crossed the picket line to work for the PG during the strike. The PG appealed this ruling on two fronts. On March 27, the PG asked the court for permission to deny the higher-quality, yet cheaper, healthcare plan to workers who crossed the picket line and only restore it for strikers. On April 7, the PG asked to have the entire injunction case reheard.

Both attempts failed on Tuesday. The 3rd Circuit Court panel had the opportunity to offer an explanation for a response on petitions for rehearing when judges find a party to be asking compelling legal questions. The judges chose not to respond to the PG.

“The Post-Gazette’s attempts to evade its responsibility have exhausted the courts and exhausted every legal delay tactic, while our strikers’ determination and solidarity have only grown,” said Zack Tanner, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh-CWA Local 38061. “The Post-Gazette must immediately restore our healthcare for every member of our bargaining unit, or risk the consequences of being in contempt of court. This ruling is a clear signal that it is time for the Post-Gazette to settle the strike by restoring the terms of our union contract before the courts take further action against the company’s lawless mistreatment of dedicated journalists.”

The striking newsroom workers are still fighting for their full strike demands: dignified healthcare and the restoration of their union contract, including paid time off, wages, employees having a guaranteed work week, and the right to question company discipline, among other issues. Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members have struck since October of 2022 for these demands.

In 2020, the company illegally and unilaterally tore up the editorial workers’ union contract, claiming they had bargained to an impasse. Both an administrative law judge and the National Labor Relations Board in D.C. ruled that the company broke federal labor law in this instance, in addition to bargaining in bad faith and illegally surveilling its workers.

The Board ordered the PG to pay back workers for all the wage reductions and increased health care costs it forced onto workers in 2020, in addition to restoring all the other bargained rights it tore up five years ago. The 3rd Circuit Court is set to rule on enforcement of that full order. 

Whereas injunctions, particularly from a Circuit Court are rare, the granting of enforcement orders at that level is comparatively common.

Post-Gazette strikers and their supporters gather for a rally on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, outside the Post-Gazette’s North Shore office. (Emily Matthews/Pittsburgh Union Progress)

Contact: Moira Bulloch (mbulloch@cwa-union.org), CWA Communications, 202-434-1168

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette faces steep penalties for breaking federal labor law after the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday filed to enjoin the company for its unlawful behavior during and leading to the country’s longest-running strike. 

If fully granted, the injunction would compel the company to pay press workers (PPPWU), advertisers (CWA), and mailers (CWA) for health care costs caused by the Post-Gazette’s bad-faith bargaining and unilateral changes to union members’ health benefits. The injunction would also require the PG to return members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh to the terms of their illegally violated 2014-17 contract, which includes the collectively bargained health care plan. It would also force the company to actually meet its legal obligation to bargain in good faith with all four striking unions on successor contracts and any agreements on health care, among other requirements of labor law the PG has violated over the years.

“I’ve woken up every day for the past 22-plus months worried about making ends meet. I’ve been maced by PG-funded private security for simply picketing. I’ve had to postpone medical care as well as my wedding,” said Alexandra Wimley, a photojournalist on strike. “And while I’m extremely proud to be standing with my fellow strikers, fighting for what’s right, all of this could have been avoided if the company just followed the law. I’m looking forward to doing the job I love again when the Post-Gazette follows the law.”

Since 2012, the NLRB has won 74.1 percent of its injunction cases. 

“For too long, the owners of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have believed that there is one law for the little guys, and another for the millionaires and the billionaires getting rich off our backs,” said CWA President Claude Cummings, Jr. “But today’s enforcement action proves that we are all equal under the law and that, finally, the Post-Gazette will be held to account for their lawless treatment of working people.”

In October of 2022, the PG unilaterally cut off the health care of its production, advertising and distribution workers by refusing to pay a $19-per-week increase in health care costs. The workers, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Locals 14842 and 14827, and PPPWU, went on strike on Oct. 6, 2022.

The Post-Gazette has repeatedly violated federal labor law for years. Workers continued to do their jobs under an expired contract while the PG dragged those negotiations out for eight years. The PG continued to break labor law by bargaining in bad faith, making unilateral changes to working conditions, refusing to bargain over health care, and imposing terms on the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh.

In the filing, the NLRB argues that the Post-Gazette simply will not follow federal labor law without a federal judge forcing it to do so. 

According to the Board’s petition, “Unless injunctive relief is immediately obtained, it may fairly be anticipated that PPG will continue its unlawful conduct during the proceedings before the Board and during subsequent proceedings before a court of appeals for an enforcement decree with the result that PPG’s employees will continue to be deprived of their rights guaranteed in the [National Labor Relations] Act.”

In January 2023, a federal administrative law judge ruled in workers’ favor and ordered the Post-Gazette to bargain in good faith. The PG has refused to comply. This led to the federal government accelerating enforcement, and pursuing an injunction.

“If you or your loved ones are struggling and you get caught stealing food to feed them, you will be immediately and repeatedly punished,” said Zack Tanner, striking interactive designer and Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh president. “If you get caught breaking federal labor law, fleecing your employees to the tune of millions of dollars and inflicting years of suffering on us, our households, and our communities, well, we’ll see.”

The Post-Gazette could comply with the court’s order at any time. 

Failure to follow a U.S. District Court judge’s ruling would lead to a contempt ruling, exponentially multiplying fines, and the risk of owners and executives being detained.

Late last year, executives of Haven Salon & Spa in Wisconsin were taken into custody by U.S marshals for flouting a district court’s order over the spa’s violations of workers’ rights.

“The Post-Gazette’s attempts to delay, and thus deny, justice for these workers have been heartless and despicable,” said Mike Davis, CWA District 2-13 vice president. “But the Post-Gazette management and their attorneys underestimate our members’ strength and our resolve. We don’t back down. It has been a long wait, but one day longer is another day stronger. This injunction brings us closer to our goal.” 

“We are hopeful that the Blocks will not demonstrate the same contempt for the federal courts that they have shown their employees and this entire bargaining process,” said Marian Needham, executive vice president of the NewsGuild-CWA. “We are resolute in our intention to bargain a fair settlement for our members, and we will continue to fight until we get there.”

“With the money the Post-Gazette has spent on anti-union attorneys, private security firms, printing the paper at the Butler Eagle, which we estimate to be close to $12 million, they could have given every employee a raise and funded the health care instead of terminating it,” said PPPWU Local 24M/9N President Chris Lang. “This is our eighth year in negotiations and hopefully the 10(j) injunction will bring all of this nonsense to a close. The employees have given their lives to this company and deserve that respect.”

Supporters can donate to support the strikers by visiting unionprogress.com/donate

The Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that striking union workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette were legally allowed to picket on company property and did not violate labor law by conducting pickets on Pittsburgh’s South Side.

The decision by a three-judge panel filed Wednesday is the latest in a string of legal losses by the company, which has been cited by the National Labor Relations Board for a series of unfair labor practices before and during a strike by five unions that began in October 2022. 

The company appealed a decision by the Allegheny County Common Pleas Court that denied its request for an injunction to end picketing at a warehouse it uses two nights a week on the city’s South Side to distribute papers it publishes and distributes using replacement workers.

“This affirms again that the workers on strike have been in the right and that the Post-Gazette continues to throw money away and burn it on legal cases rather than negotiating with employees,” said Zack Tanner, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh. 

Tanner noted that an administrative law judge ruled in January 2023 that the company had bargained in bad faith for more than five years, causing the unions to go on an unfair labor practice strike. The company has appealed that order and refuses to bargain with the four unions that remain on strike, prompting the board to authorize filing an injunction that would order employees back to work. That injunction is still being prepared.

In the picketing case, the company claimed the workers were causing violence at the warehouse and were preventing the company from using its property in violation of trespassing laws. The court disagreed, saying the workers were “wholly peaceful” and short-term pickets didn’t result in an illegal taking of company property.

An appellate court previously overruled a Butler County court that limited picketing by Post-Gazette strikers at the Butler Eagle, where the PG is paying to have its paper printed.

Tanner said it is time for the Post-Gazette to negotiate rather than continue to file court cases “where they continually lose.”

You can read the full Superior Court ruling here.

Donate to the Pittsburgh Strike Relief Fund to support striking workers.