Striking Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers closed out their week by standing in solidarity with some of their union siblings from Starbucks.
About 20 members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh joined allies from Pittsburgh Starbucks Workers United and other unions Friday afternoon outside the Market Square Starbucks.
During the rally, several current and former Starbucks employees spoke about their organization efforts. Some of those former workers say they were fired for attempting to unionize their coffee shops.
Also in attendance were members of other unions, including the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union, AFL-CIO and United Steelworkers. Leaders from a few of those unions took the microphone during the rally to speak in support of Starbucks unionization efforts.
Workers led Starbucks-focused chants — such as “No contract! No coffee!” and “Who calls the shots? We call the shots!” — as well as more universal favorites such as, “When we fight, we win!” and “What’s disgusting? Union-busting!”
Meanwhile, more and more individuals and organizations added their names Friday to the striking Post-Gazette workers’ solidarity pledge.
New signers included Allegheny County Councilwoman Anita Prizio, state Rep. Dan Miller and Allegheny County Controller Corey O’Connor.
And on the North Shore picket line on Friday, workers had a chance encounter with former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Charlie Batch.
Batch had stopped at Burn by Rocky Patel, the cigar bar next to the picket line, to collect donations for a holiday toy drive. Workers reported that Batch said hello and offered them his best wishes in reaching a deal.
Alex is a digital news editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike.
