Participants in the longest-running current strike in the United States got a boost Nov. 10 thanks to a court order. About 60 journalists represented by the Newspaper Guild began the strike in October 2022 in protest of labor law violations by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, though another 30 or so stayed on the job. Strikers accused the company of bargaining in bad faith, unlawfully declaring impasse, and unilaterally imposing its proposals on workers. Workers have been unable to get a new contract since the last one expired in 2017.
Three years later, less than 30 workers remain on strike, the majority driven by necessity to find work elsewhere. Strikers created their own news website, the Pittsburgh Union Progress.
Now the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals says the Post-Gazette must restore terms of the Newspaper Guild’s previous contract and return to bargaining. That includes restoring health coverage and a guaranteed 40-hour workweek, and rehiring strikers — with three years of back pay.
The Post-Gazette belongs to family-owned Block Communications, which also owns the Toledo Blade newspaper and eight broadcast TV stations that it’s in the process of selling to Gray Media for $80 million. Block said in a statement that it intends to appeal the decision, which it said would likely force the closure of the paper.
