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