Striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette were back on the picket line outside the PG’s North Shore newsroom Monday, the first day of the ninth week of the strike for PG journalists.
After a quiet weekend for members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, workers resumed picketing as part of continued efforts to reach an agreement with PG management to get back to work.
Three negotiations sessions — the most recent held on Dec. 6 — 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.
Workers are planning for a fourth session with the company, scheduled for Dec. 20.
Meanwhile, the workers’ strike solidarity pledge picked up new signatures from a handful of local businesses and notable names.
Monday’s new pledges included Maggie’s Farm Distillery, Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb, Pittsburgh Public Schools board member Pam Harbin and Bethel Park School District board member Dan Grzybek.
Those who sign 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.
Striking workers unveiled an initial list of pledge signers Thursday and said hundreds of elected officials, community leaders, organizations and members of the public had added their names.
Alex is a digital news editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike.
