The public has a way to financially support striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers and their families who are facing difficult financial circumstances: The CWA Pittsburgh Striker Fund.
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, which represents PG newsroom workers, announced on Thursday the creation of the solidarity fund at cwa.org/ppg-donate as it went live to accept donations to support the newsroom, distribution, production and advertising workers on strike.
Managed by the Newspaper Guild of Greater Philadelphia/TNG-CWA Local 38010 and The NewsGuild-CWA, which seeded the fund with $10,000, the money will be used exclusively to assist striking Post-Gazette workers and their families.
“A union is a family,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss, who has joined the striking workers in Pittsburgh. “We stand for each other because we care about each other. This fund is in place to help those who hit extreme hardships so that we can take care of them.”
While CWA has a strike fund that helps cover the strikers’ basic expenses, Pittsburgh Striker Fund will ensure some members’s extraordinary needs are met.
The Pittsburgh Striker Fund accepts contributions from individuals, unions and grassroots/citizen/political organizations that support the strike by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Fund does not accept contributions from any employers whose employees are represented by either CWA or IBT, or whose employees either CWA or IBT seeks to represent or would admit to membership.
Organizers are seeking IRS approval that would make donations tax-deductible.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.