Labor strikes are fueled in large part by support and pizza — and the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh lacks neither.
On Tuesday, exactly one week from the start of the Guild’s strike against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the support and the pizza continued to flow.
Just before noon, U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Pa., stopped by the North Shore picket line to drop off some spinach-stuffed pita bread and offer his support.
Lamb spoke with striking PG workers about their fight for a contract and reiterated his support for the workers and for journalism’s role in democracy.
Simultaneously, the daily dose of strike fuel arrived in the form of pizza from Media Guild of the West and snacks and water from NABET-CWA Local 58028 in Erie.
Additionally, CWA District 4 and Telecommunications and Technology workers stopped by to lend their support on the North Shore.
And professors represented by APSCUF (the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties) also joined the picket line and talked with strikers. The APSCUF members, who were on their own strike in 2016, encouraged the PG workers to stay strong.
A few hundred miles south, CWA showed up in full force to support striking PG Washington bureau chief Ashley Murray.
Dozens joined Murray on a picket line outside the U.S. Capitol, including members from: CWA, the Association of Flight Attendants, the Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild’s Jobs With Justice, Politico/EE, Working America, the Congressional Workers Union, Bloomberg, Center for Public Integrity, the Washington Post and Catholic News Service, plus a few former PG workers.
And back in Pennsylvania, the Guild picket line in Harrisburg doubled in size Tuesday as business reporter Laura Legere joined Harrisburg bureau chief Gillian McGoldrick on a picket line outside the state Capitol building.
Legere and McGoldrick were visited by supportive Allegheny County state Reps. Dan Deasy and Nick Pisciottano.
And McGoldrick is striking even with a sprained ankle — yet another show of strength as the strike rolls on.
Alex is a digital news editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike.
