News workers participate in Socialist Workers Party labor forum

When Andrew Goldstein of the Pittsburgh Newspaper Guild and James “Hutchie” Van Landingham of the Mailers union participated in a labor forum sponsored by the Socialist Workers Party in East Liberty Saturday, they expected and found support for the nearly 3-month-old strike from attendees, especially on health care issues. But they also had some surprises.

Phil Norris of Avalon said he learned about the civil rights movement when he worked as a Toledo Blade paperboy in the 1960s. He canceled his PG subscription when the strike started, noting that since then it “is impossible to get off the PG email list.”

“The last offer of $1 a week for a digital subscription for 52 weeks strikes me as a little desperate,” Norris said.

Tony Lane of Beechview, a native of New Zealand, said he attended a Mellon Square rally before the last negotiation session with Block Communications Inc. in December at the Omni William Penn, Downtown. The three women from Buffalo, employees who had been on strike against a hospital there, who drove for hours to join in and offer a donation to the strike fund, emphasized the solidarity the PG strike is receiving from far and wide as well as locally, he said.

Candace Wagner of Brighton Heights, who is a conductor and member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, joined the two PG representatives on the panel. She recounted the issues over which the 12 railway unions threatened a nationwide strike, one that was stopped when Congress and the Biden administration forced a contract on them. That move — to avoid further economic disruption stemming from supply chain issues — upset her and other railway union members because it came from “the most pro-labor president we have had.”

The bigger issue for her and others is the lack of guaranteed leave and sick time. She said this is critical when employees must work 14-hour days and return to work quickly, jeopardizing safety and increasing chances of derailments nationwide. The unions’ next chance of rectifying that won’t come until 2025.

Both Van Landingham and Goldstein stressed the health care issue that started the continuing news strike. While the Guild has had four negotiation sessions, the other four striking unions have not had any despite requests to sit down with BCI company representatives. BCI’s purchase of Pittsburgh City Paper last week further muddies the settlement issue, as does the company’s decision to pour more money into fighting the strike as opposed to settling it.

Solidarity is key, said panel members and participants the forum. It was moderated by Malcolm Jarrett of the North Side, a member of the Socialist Workers Party who has attended rallies, visited the picket line at PG facilities in Clinton and recounted how Mancini bakery employees went there with donations. “The key word for us is solidarity,” he said. “Every time you face the boss individually, you lose.”

The rise this past year in union organization, strikes and successful contract negotiations is heartening, he said. “We know this is an opportunity. It’s a fight that can be won, but only if working people stay together.”