The Typographical union, Mailers union, Pressmen’s union, Journalists’ union, went on strike in 2022, all but the journalist’s union (the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh) voted to accept buyouts ending their strike.

 The Supreme Court upheld the ULP status of the strike by declining to consider an appeal from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which legally obligated the Newspaper to reinstate the workers plus reimburse all costs and benefits including back wages accrued during the strike, in effect declaring that management did not bargain in good faith.

Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh President Andrew Goldstein stated to management “We’re not here for revenge. We’re not here to destroy the Post-Gazette. We are here to rebuild it.”

Without getting into the merits of the strike or the Courts decision it is the intention/strategy for striking unions to damage the company sufficiently to force them back to the table and sometimes to the point of no return.

The last strike I directed with the IBT was in coordination with 5 other national unions and 6 union locals. This strike (The Detroit News/Free Press Strike) was immediately transformed into a national strategy against two of the largest newspapers in the nation under a joint operating agreement. The strike was fierce and took almost 6 years to achieve a Collective Bargaining Agreement.

A third of all subscribers were lost. Circulation fell eight times the rate for industry between 1995 and 2001, and dozens of veteran journalists left the papers and the city, taking with them years of knowledge and public memory. The Free Press and Detroit News have never recovered their pre-strike circulation numbers.

The anger between the company and strikers resulted in hundreds of arrests and injuries. Hand to hand combat with police and private security company guards which numbered over a thousand and over 4,000 replacement workers to do everything from delivering newspapers, drive trucks, man the printing facilities and everything in between. destruction of company property was happening daily, in fact the violence got so bad at the printing plants the Newspaper Agency rented helicopters to fly newspapers out of the plants.

I have seen companies large and small go out of business and lives destroyed, companies trying to stay afloat and make payroll, people who have put every penny they have into their dream – all erased because of strikes.

I have seen workers going on strike thinking that it was going to be a party, short and sweet but nobody thought that years later they were still going to be on strike.

Strikes serve nobody’s interest. People must realize that. It is the absolute last resort and, frankly, both sides should do everything possible to prevent one. The best way to avoid a strike is to stay union free but that also involves communication, effort, determination, and a desire to do right by your employees within reason.

https://pslabor.com/

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