After years of wasting millions of dollars losing court battles in attempts to deny
their workers’ basic rights, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) announced Wednesday afternoon it would shut down May 3.
Earlier in the day, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the company’s request to stay a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order requiring the PG to reinstate a contractual health care plan it had previously agreed to prior to illegally tearing it up in 2020.
The announcement follows the newspaper publisher losing a nearly decadelong attempt to bust unions at the paper. In July 2020, the Post-Gazette illegally tore up the previous collectively bargained union contract governing working conditions at the paper and unilaterally imposed work rules that worsened health care coverage and other benefits. Workers went on strike for more than three years over the company’s illegal behavior. The strike followed more than 20 years in which workers did not receive any across-the-board wage increases as they bargained in the spirit of shared sacrifice to sustain the paper and continue providing news for Pittsburgh readers.
Employees were told the paper was closing down in a prerecorded video played during an emergency meeting, via Zoom, at which no company representatives spoke live.
“Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh,” said Andrew Goldstein, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, The NewsGuild-CWA (TNG-CWA) Local 38061, in a press release. “Post-Gazette journalists have done award-winning work for decades and we’re going to pursue all options to make sure that Pittsburgh continues to have the caliber of journalism it deserves.”
“Today the Block family admitted that they don’t have the skill to run a business and also follow the law,” said TNG-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Blocks spent millions on lawyers to fight union workers, fight journalists and break federal labor law. They lost at every level, including now at the Supreme Court. Pittsburgh deserves better and we will continue to fight to make sure all news companies follow the law and serve our communities.”
- AFL-CIO Daily Brief