PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers are calling for new leadership at the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, weeks after the newspaper announced it would publish its final edition later this year.
In a statement Thursday morning, the “majority of the bargaining unit at the Post-Gazette” said it’s seeking new elections in the union after it misrepresented “our prevailing views for many years.”
Post-Gazette workers had begun returning to work in November after a three-year-long strike over contract issues. But on Jan. 7, the Post-Gazette’s owner, Block Communications Inc., announced the 240-year-old newspaper would cease operations on May 3.
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In Thursday’s statement, Post-Gazette workers claimed the union members returning in November represented only a quarter of the roughly 100-person bargaining unit. The rest either resigned from the union and crossed the picket line in protest of the strike or joined the paper as new staffers.
“The Guild’s effort was never as broadly supported as it claimed publicly,” workers write.
Workers call on the Communication Workers of America, NewsGuild and Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh to “represent our shared views promptly, fairly and legitimately” as they work with Block Communications Inc. or potential new ownership to preserve the paper.
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Workers say the Post-Gazette’s loss would make Pittsburgh the largest city without a daily newspaper. Without the paper, they say, “many stories will simply go uncovered, and the community will suffer as a direct result.”
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh issued this statement Thursday afternoon:
“Since the day we got back to work at the Post-Gazette we’ve invited folks into meetings, talked about hard feelings, and set out a path forward, including a compassionate, educational way to get back to membership in good standing for people who actively resigned their membership, or crossed a picket line to work here. Since the Blocks announced they were closing the paper we have worked hand-in-hand with co-workers — regardless of on which side of a picket line they stood — on how best to save jobs. That has involved encouraging the company to reconsider the closure announcement as well as working with community supporters of local journalism to explore alternatives to the Block-owned PG, including new ownership — all with the explicit, shared understanding that both approaches needed to happen concurrently to give ourselves the best chance of saving journalism jobs in Pittsburgh. Bargaining unit members who struck and did not strike have participated in both efforts together, including as recently as Tuesday night. We remain committed to working with any and all serious parties invested in local journalism that serves the needs of working-class people in the region. That will never change.”
You can read the Post-Gazette workers’ full statement below:
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