Newspaper Guild Files Labor Charges Against Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's New Owners
The labor dispute at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, took a new turn on November 2: the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, the nonprofit that bought the paper from the Block family this past spring. The Guild filed the charges on October 29.
According to Pittsburgh public radio station WESA, Venetoulis retained around two-thirds of the paper's staff at the acquisition and pledged to recognize the union, but the Guild alleges the new owner shunned union members who had been on strike for the previous three years and concentrated hiring among newsroom employees who had already crossed the picket line — a potential violation of labor laws barring discrimination for union activity. Guild lawyer Joe Pass said those not hired included Pulitzer Prize winners, and that during negotiations for a new contract the company unilaterally imposed its own conditions on healthcare, sick leave and job categories. Venetoulis has previously characterized the purchase as an "asset sale" not requiring it to assume Block Communications' contracts; Pass dismissed that, saying the paper is essentially the same organization under a different owner and that the Guild is a labor-law successor, so the prior contract terms remain binding.
The earlier strike was prompted by the company's move to change contract provisions while negotiating a new agreement, which the union argued was an unfair labor practice, a position federal courts repeatedly affirmed. The NLRB will now investigate the case and decide whether to issue a complaint; if it does, the case will go to trial. Venetoulis did not respond to WESA's request for comment on November 2. The Guild says it wants the contract's pre-strike status quo restored and the strikers' jobs back.
(Source: 90.5 WESA)
Source: 90.5 WESA
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：《匹兹堡邮报》办公楼。Tony Webster 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette office building. By Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
