Strikers Use Billboard Truck Videos to Call Out Union Busters

CWA members at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) have proven their mettle as a fighting union, standing strong as their strike against the newspaper surpassed two years this week. To mark the strike’s second anniversary, strikers took their demands directly to the corporate executives and board members responsible for violating the strikers’ rights and federal labor laws, with a mobile rally and billboard truck targeting the Post-Gazette office and the homes of union busters, executive editor Stan Wischnowski, parent company BCI board member and Block family heiress Emily Escalante, publisher, board vice chair and PG owner John Block, and BCI board member Ronald Davenport.

Natalie Duleba, a striking designer and editor and member of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh CWA Local 38061, was proud to see her video calling out corporate lawbreakers playing in upscale neighborhoods. “This isn’t something where they’re in a corner and they can’t move and they’re helpless,” Duleba said. “No! These are the people who own this company, who help run this company, who have the power to end the strike and treat their workers right.”

Prior to the strike, Post-Gazette management dragged contract negotiations out for eight years. During that time, the Post-Gazette repeatedly violated federal labor law by bargaining in bad faith, making unilateral changes to working conditions, refusing to bargain over health care, and imposing terms on the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh. Members of CWA Locals 14842 and 14827 and the Printing Packaging & Production Workers Union (PPPWU) walked out on strike in October 2022, after management unilaterally cut off their healthcare. Guild members joined their picket lines, protesting additional unfair labor practices.

The Post-Gazette faces severe consequences for breaking federal labor law after the federal labor board filed to enjoin the company for violating the strikers’ rights. The newspaper’s management has the power to settle the strike at any time by complying with the law and previous court orders, but has instead chosen to continue breaking laws. Just last week, criminal charges were filed against Post-Gazette officials for violating the Pennsylvania Strikebreaker Employment Act by not disclosing the ongoing labor dispute in seven newsroom job listings.

Don’t let the action end: Send a letter to tell the PG union busters to settle the strike today. Donate to support the strikers at unionprogress.com/donate.

CWA mobile billboard truck alerts PG owner John Block’s neighbors of his unlawful violations of workers’ rights. Check out the videos that were displayed on the truck here.

CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. (pictured above, center) joined Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Vice President Margaret Cook (right of center) and Northeast Region At-Large Executive Board Member and CWA Local 1180 President Gloria Middleton (left of center) earlier this week at the CWA Local 1180 Shop Stewards Conference held in Atlantic City, N.J. Local 1180 is CWA’s oldest public sector local, and its members work in numerous public offices in New York City, including the NYC Housing Authority, Department of Education, and mayoral agencies, as well as at several private sector non-profit organizations. President Cummings focused on lessons he’s learned as a shop steward and the role individual locals can play at the national level.

CWA District 4 and IUE-CWA leadership and members from across Ohio joined delegates from other labor unions at the 34th Biennial Convention of the Ohio AFL-CIO earlier this month. CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton and IUE-CWA President Carl Kennebrew both sit on the Board of the Ohio AFL-CIO. Vice President Hinton served as Chair of the Resolutions Committee and served on the Political Committee. President Kennebrew served on the Political and Constitution Committees. CWA District 4 Staff Representative Diane Bailey served as Vice Chair of the Credentials Committee. Central Region At-Large Executive Board Member Erika White, running for Ohio State Representative, joined the delegation. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Melody Stewart and U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, both endorsed by CWA, also attended the conference.

CWA District 4 Campaign Lead Renee Rouser testified in favor of the “Support for Call Center Consumer and Worker Protections” resolution, and CWA District 4 Staff Representative Ron Gay testified in favor of the “Build Broadband Better and End the Digital Divide in Ohio” resolution, both of which passed unanimously. Staff Rep. Bailey had the great honor of introducing Justice Stewart.

CWA District 4 and IUE-CWA leadership, staff, and members met with other labor leaders for the 34th Biennial Convention of the Ohio AFL-CIO.

Editorial workers at the New Yorker last week unanimously voted to authorize a strike less than a month ahead of the magazine’s most star-studded and high-profile event—the 25th annual New Yorker Festival. The New Yorker Union represents editorial workers at the legendary magazine, owned by publisher Condé Nast, and is a bargaining unit of The NewsGuild of New York (TNG-CWA Local 31003). A total of 100 out of 101 members voted, and all 100 voted in favor of a strike.

Negotiations for a successor contract began in March. Throughout the bargaining process, Condé Nast management has tried to revoke many key benefits from the first contract and resisted improvements that members see as critical. The terms of the first contract expired on July 28. Members have also publicly committed to strike in their own words.

“We’ve been working without a contract for six months and a day. We’re fed up, and we won’t settle for a subpar contract. We’re ready to strike. It’s up to Condé Nast management what happens next,” said Douglas Watson, a copy editor for the New Yorker and a member of the union’s mobilizing team.

If the New Yorker Union embarks on a strike, it will mark the 35th strike by NewsGuild-CWA members in 2024.

Dozens of CWA political activists kicked off October with an ambitious virtual phone bank, making more than 27,000 calls to prospective union voters in both Pennsylvania and Georgia. Labor champion legislator Representative Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) helped kick off the phone bank, highlighting the importance of turning out working people’s votes in his home state.

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam joined the phone bank, which was coordinated by Pennsylvania Campaign Lead Bill Scott. CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis delivered the opening statement. CWA District 4 Vice President Linda L. Hinton and Telecommunications and Technologies Vice President Lisa Bolton also made calls to turn out union voters.

After calling every number on the Pennsylvania list, with time to spare, callers pivoted to Georgia, another battleground state. They continued to make thousands of calls to the Peach State and connected with hundreds more voters. Overall, activists reported a 79 percent rate of positive responses to the CWA-endorsed candidate for President, Kamala Harris.

Click here to participate in an upcoming virtual phone bank.

CWA political activists from across the country met virtually earlier last week to place calls to prospective union voters in battleground states.

At the start of October, CWA members in District 2-13 met in Pennsylvania for three days of networking and educational sessions hosted by CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis. Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam and District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor attended the conference. Southeast Region At-Large Executive Board Member Vera Mikell participated as a local delegate.

CWA District 2-13 also hosted several guests including State Senator John Kane (D-Pa.), Representative Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Pa.), Representative Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), PA AFL-CIO President Angela Ferritto, CWA National RMC President Gwendolyn Parker, Global Labor Justice Garment Organizer Jeeva Muhil, and Union Sportsmen’s Alliance CEO and Executive Director Walt Ingram.

Workshops included “Winning By Organizing,” “What’s at Stake? Peeling Back Project 2025,” and “Our Approach to Health and Safety.”

A major theme throughout the conference was voter turnout and the need to elect pro-worker candidates up and down the ballot. Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam spoke to this sentiment, saying, “The choice is crystal clear, we need Harris and Walz in the White House these next four years. But we also need to give them a real chance to make sweeping changes to support us by voting down-ballot. This will give them the power, in both the House and Senate, to get the job Biden started finished and to build upon it.”

CWA members in District 2-13 met for three days of networking and educational sessions at their annual conference in Pennsylvania.

CWA Local 38061 member John Santa has held the picket line for two years as Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers continue to fight for justice.

Name: John Santa
Local: The Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, TNG-CWA Local 38061
Workplace: Post-Gazette
Job Title: Page Designer/Copy Editor
Experience: 1 year
Strike Time: 2 years
Quote: “I’ve been on strike, so one day I can look my son in the eye and tell him that I stood with my fellow workers to tell our bosses that we deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Inspiration: “I’m inspired by my fellow strikers. The depths of their devotion to this cause is incredible to behold. We will continue this fight until the P-G is punished for breaking federal labor law and we get what we deserve.”

To support striking workers and families, you can do any of these three things today:

1. Donate to the strike fund that’s used to pay for rent, utility bills, car repairs, groceries, and to keep their pets alive and well.
   
2. Order a T-shirt repping their strike publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress. All proceeds go to the same strike fund.
   
3. Subscribe to the Pittsburgh Union Progress for free news on the strike, the lives of working people in Western PA and beyond, and more.

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