Third time wasn’t the charm: Post-Gazette continues to reject Newspaper Guild bargaining proposals

The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh brought two more proposals to representatives of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Tuesday. It was the parties’ third bargaining meeting since the guild went on strike Oct. 18.

The Post-Gazette rejected both proposals and offered no counterproposals. For this round of bargaining, again held at Downtown Pittsburgh’s Omni William Penn Hotel, the Newspaper Guild focused on health care.

“Once again, the guild came to the table today ready to end the strike,” said Zack Tanner, president of the Newspaper Guild. “After the company made it explicitly clear they were not willing to talk about noneconomic demands, the guild came to the table today to talk about economics, especially health care. The company refused to engage and continued bad-faith bargaining tactics.”

The Post-Gazette did not return a Union Progress request for comment on the bargaining session.

At one point, a guild member asked Richard Lowe, the King & Ballow attorney representing the Post-Gazette, if there were any changes that could be made to the guild’s health care proposal that the company would consider.

“We are staying with our proposals, and we think they’re better,” Lowe said. “To answer your question, no, there are not.”

Mike Pound, a Post-Gazette digital editor and striking guild member, was in attendance Tuesday. It was his first time attending a bargaining session between the guild and the company. At one point, he let his feelings be known about what he was witnessing.

“Negotiations are a give and take,” he told Lowe. “In this instance, we’ve brought a proposal with significant concessions. We’ve revised it based on your input. Where’s the give and take here?”

Despite a lack of progress, the guild requested a fourth bargaining session that was ultimately set for Dec. 20 at the Omni William Penn Hotel.

Said Tanner: “I hope our future bargaining dates are more fruitful.”