Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Strikers Stand Strong Two Years into America’s Longest Running Strike

CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) have proven their mettle as a fighting union, standing strong as their strike against the newspaper surpassed two years this week. To mark the strike’s second anniversary, strikers took their demands directly to the corporate executives and board members responsible for violating the strikers’ rights and federal labor laws, with a mobile rally and billboard truck targeting the Post-Gazette office and the homes of union busters, executive editor Stan Wischnowski, parent company BCI board member and Block family heiress Emily Escalante, publisher, board vice chair and PG owner John Block, and BCI board member Ronald Davenport.

Natalie Duleba, a striking designer and editor and member of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh CWA Local 38061, was proud to see her video calling out corporate lawbreakers playing in upscale neighborhoods. "This isn't something where they're in a corner and they can't move and they're helpless,” Duleba said. “No! These are the people who own this company, who help run this company, who have the power to end the strike and treat their workers right."

Prior to the strike, Post-Gazette management dragged contract negotiations out for eight years. During that time, the Post-Gazette repeatedly violated federal 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. Members of CWA Locals 14842 and 14827 and the Printing Packaging & Production Workers Union (PPPWU) walked out on strike in October 2022, after management unilaterally cut off their healthcare. Guild members joined their picket lines, protesting additional unfair labor practices.

The Post-Gazette faces severe consequences for breaking federal labor law after the federal labor board filed to enjoin the company for violating the strikers’ rights. The newspaper’s management has the power to settle the strike at any time by complying with the law and previous court orders, but has instead chosen to continue breaking laws. Just last week, criminal charges were filed against Post-Gazette officials for violating the Pennsylvania Strikebreaker Employment Act by not disclosing the ongoing labor dispute in seven newsroom job listings.

Don't let the action end: Send a letter to tell the PG union busters to settle the strike today. Donate to support the strikers at unionprogress.com/donate.

 
CWA mobile billboard truck alerts PG owner John Block’s neighbors of his unlawful violations of workers’ rights. Check out the videos that were displayed on the truck here.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.