On November 24, 2025, in a major and hard-won victory, striking members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh returned to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after more than three years on strike. It was one of the longest-running newspaper strikes in modern U.S. history — and the workers won.
The Strike
The strike began after the company unilaterally canceled existing health care benefits, a move the union argued was illegal. In response, the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Throughout the strike, the company continued publishing the paper by relying on replacement labor and bargaining units that were not on strike. Meanwhile, the Guild fought the employer both publicly and in the courts.
In 2024, the NLRB ruled that the company had violated federal labor law and ordered it to restore the terms of the collective bargaining agreement. The employer refused to comply, and the case moved through the federal courts.
On November 10, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit upheld the NLRB’s ruling, requiring the company to restore the unlawfully revoked benefits and bargaining terms.⁵ Only then did the workers return to work.
A Swift Retaliation
What appeared to be a decisive victory soon took a dramatic turn.
On January 7, 2026, all workers at the Post-Gazette were notified that the paper’s owners, Block Communications Inc., would cease publication on May 3, 2026. The closure would leave Pittsburgh without a print newspaper.
The announcement came the same day the company lost its appeal of the Third Circuit’s decision at the U.S. Supreme Court.
John Robinson Block, the paper’s publisher and co-owner, holds a 25 percent stake in Block Communications, the Post-Gazette’s parent company.
As Andrew Goldstein, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061), stated:
“Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh …”
Power and Precedent
The decision to shut down the Post-Gazette illustrates a broader dynamic in American labor relations. When employers are unable to defeat a union outright — whether through bargaining pressure, attrition, or legal maneuvering — they may exercise another form of power: closure.
The strike demonstrated that workers can endure, organize, and win through legal and collective struggle. But the shutdown underscores something else — the structural power owners retain in a system where capital ultimately controls whether an enterprise continues to exist.
The Guild won its strike fair and square.
The owners chose to close the paper.
The result is not only a labor dispute resolved through attrition, but a civic loss for Pittsburgh itself.
Sources:
Columbia Journalism Review, coverage of the strike and NLRB rulings
Poynter, “Why the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is shutting down.”
Isn't it obvious that the "workers" need to physically take control of the assets and continue publishing?
"Capital" has abandoned the assets. The assets are free to anyone who might be able to use them.
Do it!
Glorious victory!