Union members and management at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette returned Thursday to the bargaining table. It was the second time this week the two parties met.
Initial contract talks held Monday failed to end in an agreement. Union members say Thursday’s talks at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh ended in a similar stalemate, with the company rejecting all proposals from the guild.
Zack Tanner, president of the News Guild of Pittsburgh, said the union’s propositions included several major concessions to their demands.
“I think what it boils down to is the guild came to the table Monday and today prepared to bargain to end the strike and the company just have no interest in doing that,” Tanner said.
The parties are scheduled to meet again on Dec. 6. According to a brief statement from the paper's marketing director, Allison Latcheran, this was the earliest date the union was next available.
"In this second meeting of the week, a little progress was made and the federal mediator asked both parties for their next availability to continue discussions," the company wrote Thursday. "The company proposed next week, however the union’s next availability was December 6. We look forward to continuing negotiations on December 6."
Monday’s bargaining session was the first such meeting between newspaper management and union representatives since 2020 and since newsroom employees went on strike a month ago. They say they want to secure fair wages, yearly raises and affordable healthcare.
Members of the news guild are trying to negotiate a new union contract. The last one the company agreed to expired in 2017 and since a subsequent bargaining agreement was not reached afterward, the union members have operated without one until now.
According to Tanner, the union asked to restore that contract, including protections he said the company "decimated" after the agreement’s expiration.
None of the newsroom’s managers were present at either of the negotiations this week. The paper’s owners have been represented by Richard Lowe, a lawyer with the law firm King & Ballow based in Nashville, Tenn., as well as a senior human resources representative from the company.
At a rally on Monday, several striking employees said they were ready to get back to work. In the meantime, Tanner said many strikers are receiving strike benefits from the Communications Workers of America, of which the news guild is a member. Many are also receiving a continuation of health insurance through COBRA, required under federal law.
Union members also have access to an approximately $65,000 strike fund.
“It's hard it's hard being on strike, but there are relief efforts out there for folks that are enduring any hardships or have health care needs,” Tanner said. “That doesn't make it any easier. We still want to go back to work, but we do have some relief.”
Striking employees continue to publish work through their strike publication, Pittsburgh Union Progress.
Tanner said strike supporters plan to picket outside the wedding of Post-Gazette publisher J.R. Block at the Duquesne Club on Saturday.
