Newsroom workers on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for more than 29 months solidified their place in labor history Monday when a federal court issued a rare injunction ordering the newspaper to restore the health care it illegally took from its employees and return to the bargaining table.
The order from the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals represents a major victory for workers engaged in what is now the longest ongoing strike in the United States.
“Members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh have stood and fought against the Post-Gazette’s illegal union busting since October 2022, and today we have been given the victory that we’ve held the picket line waiting for so long,” said guild President Zack Tanner, an interactive designer at the PG. The order for a 10(e) injunction is a win not just for the striking workers “but for all workers in Pittsburgh who want to stand up and fight,” he said.
The union workers remain on strike against the Post-Gazette. However, they’ll meet in the coming days to discuss the court order and whether it will lead to the strike’s conclusion.
Restoration of health care was a core demand of the unionized newsroom workers who walked off the job on Oct. 18, 2022. The order, written by Judge Cindy K. Chung, also requires the PG to submit bargaining progress reports to Region 6 of the National Labor Relations Board and negotiate with the workers’ union on any changes in wages, hours or any other terms of employment.
The Post-Gazette could soon face further consequences. The same court that issued the injunction is expected to rule on the NLRB’s request for enforcement of its September 2024 ruling, which ordered the PG to restore working conditions consistent with the entire 2014-17 contract, including paid time off, wages, employees having a guaranteed work week, and the right to question company discipline, among other issues, as well as back pay to workers for wage reductions and increased health care costs.
In 2020, the company illegally and unilaterally tore up the editorial workers’ union contract, claiming they had bargained to an impasse. Both an administrative law judge and the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C., ruled that the company broke federal labor law in this instance, in addition to bargaining in bad faith and illegally surveilling its workers.
Unlike previous rulings against the PG, the Third Circuit Court’s order has both enforcement power and directly addresses strikers’ demands.
“NewsGuild-CWA members have a saying: whatever it takes,” said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. “Guild members have struck for 29 months knowing we were right and the company broke federal law. Today the Third Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with us. We’re thrilled and will continue doing our job holding power to account, especially when it’s the boss.”
The PUP is the publication of the striking workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
