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The strife at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has been well-documented, from the outrage following the removal of Black staff members from protest coverage, to its union president resigning over sexual misconduct allegations. But now, the people behind running one of the city’s largest and most distinguished publications can claim a victory thanks to a recent court ruling.
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh announced on Feb. 7 that union members would receive over $100,000 in reimbursement money, plus 6% statutory interest, from the Post-Gazette. The ruling, handed down from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, comes after a years-long legal battle over what’s described in a press release as the paper’s leadership refusing to pay “contractually obligated health care coverage increases that commenced in 2018.”
“Saying this is an incredible win for our members is an understatement,” says Guild president Lacretia Wimbley.
Wimbley adds that the P-G’s parent company, the Ohio-based Block Communications, has gotten away with disenfranchising P-G staff from contractual rights “for far too long — this decision by the Third Circuit is empowering and liberating.”
A request for comment to P-G management was not immediately returned.
The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh represents around 100 unionized journalists at the P-G, as well as around 120 full-time faculty professors at Point Park University.
The ruling relates to a number of labor disputes following the union’s contract expiring in March 2017. In September 2020, City Paper reported that the Guild voted to strike following a move by management that “implemented parts of a new contract without the consent of the Guild.” At that time, union members said P-G ownership had failed to pay health care premium increases to workers for over two years.
The payments are a result of a November 2021 ruling that upheld a December 2020 ruling from U.S. District Judge Marilyn J. Horan, which ultimately determined that P-G violated its contract with the Guild by refusing to pay for health care increases during contract talks.
“It’s sad and ridiculous that the company would rather spend hundreds of thousands of dollars fighting us,” says Wimbley. “Now they have been forced to pay what they should have paid to begin with, and it has cost them much more than it would have to simply do the right thing.”
While the decision is a major step for the Guild, it’s only part of a goal to “get back to the bargaining table and secure a fair contract that respects the union journalists who make the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.”
“Victory has never tasted so sweet, and this is only the beginning,” says Wimbley.
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2022.
