Solidarity can be a verb, and supporters of striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers showed that Thursday.
The striking workers announced in a news release that hundreds of elected officials, community leaders, organizations and members of the public have signed onto a strike solidarity pledge.
Those who add their names to the pledge are promising to:
- Refuse to speak to the Post-Gazette until striking workers’ demands are met.
- Speak with the Pittsburgh Union Progress instead.
- Ask their community to join them in canceling their Post-Gazette subscriptions until the strike ends.
- Urge others to subscribe to the Union Progress.
The initial signers of the pledge included U.S. Rep.-elect Chris Deluzio; seven Pennsylvania state representatives or representatives-elect; two members of Pittsburgh City Council; and dozens of Western Pennsylvania community groups.
“This pledge of support from such a diverse group of elected officials, community activists, labor organizations and others is just fantastic,” Ed Blazina, first vice president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, said in the news release Thursday. “These groups understand the importance of local news coverage in the Pittsburgh region and the need for employers to treat their union employees in a fair manner.
“We hope this outpouring from leaders of this community convinces the Post-Gazette to begin bargaining in good faith with its union workers.”
The guild is encouraging supporters who have not yet signed the solidarity pledge to add their names.
Three negotiations sessions — the most recent held Tuesday — between workers and the PG have been fruitless in ending the strike. The company rejected both proposals brought by the guild and offered no counterproposals.
Newsroom workers at the PG have been on strike since Oct. 18, while distribution, production and advertising workers walked off the job in the early-morning hours of Oct. 6.
Alex is a digital news editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike.
