Striking Post-Gazette workers rallied in front of Pittsburgh’s Joseph F. Weis Jr. U.S. Courthouse on Monday morning and expressed hope that their issues with the company would move one step closer to a resolution by the end of the day.
Shortly before 2 p.m., however, they learned they’d have to wait a bit longer.
A federal judge granted a National Labor Relations Board attorney’s request for more time to present witnesses and evidence during Monday’s hearing on an injunction that would have ordered the PG to follow federal labor law and return striking workers to their jobs.
Judge Cathy Bissoon later set the hearing’s continuance for 10:30 a.m. Nov. 20.
Bissoon is considering whether to grant the NLRB’s request for a 10(j) injunction, which would compel the newspaper to take back union mailers, advertising workers and pressmen under the terms of their last contract, negotiate in good faith for a new one and give workers health care coverage.
Early in the hearing, those striking Post-Gazette workers testified about the difficulties they’ve faced in their attempts to find affordable health care, and their struggles with health issues, since the strike’s beginning in October 2022. They also testified that due to the duration of the strike, participation in actions such as picketing is “dwindling,” even if their resolve is strong.
Early in the afternoon, Bissoon asked the NLRB to present its arguments for the rare 10(j). An NLRB attorney asked for more time, and Bissoon granted the request over the objections of one of the PG attorneys.
The journalists of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, which went on their own unfair labor practices strike in October 2022, this September won their NLRB board decision, and also look to seek injunctive relief from the federal courts.
The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
