Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Owners Couldn’t Bust the Union, so They Shut Down the Paper

PG to Shut Down 240-Year-Old Paper After SCOTUS Slaps Down Company's Bid to Evade Court Order

PITTSBURGH - After years of wasting millions of dollars losing court battles in attempts to deny their workers' basic rights, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PG) announced on Wednesday afternoon that it would be closing on May 3.

Earlier in the day, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the company's request to stay a U.S. 3rd Circuit Court order requiring the PG to reinstate a contractual health care plan it had previously agreed to prior to illegally tearing it up in 2020.

The announcement follows the newspaper publisher losing a nearly decade-long attempt to bust unions at the paper. In July of 2020, the Post-Gazette illegally tore up the previously collectively bargained union contract governing working conditions at the paper and unilaterally imposed work rules that worsened health care coverage and other benefits. Workers went on strike for more than three years over the company's illegal behavior. The strike followed more than 20 years in which workers did not receive any across-the-board wage increases as they bargained in the spirit of shared sacrifice to sustain the paper and continue providing news for Pittsburgh readers.

"Instead of simply following the law, the owners chose to punish local journalists and the city of Pittsburgh," said Andrew Goldstein, president of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh (TNG-CWA Local 38061). "Post-Gazette journalists have done award-winning work for decades, and we're going to pursue all options to make sure that Pittsburgh continues to have the caliber of journalism it deserves."

Closing the paper does not get the Blocks out from under the legal liabilities they incurred. The Nov. 10 U.S. 3rd Circuit Court ruling requires the company to pay back all bargaining unit employees for the costs the paper illegally passed onto them. That liability continues to accrue and will not go away with the closure of the paper.

"Today the Block family admitted that they don't have the skill to run a business and also follow the law," said NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss. "The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Blocks spent millions on lawyers to fight union workers, fight journalists, and break federal labor law. They lost at every level, including now at the Supreme Court. Pittsburgh deserves better, and we will continue to fight to make sure all news companies follow the law and serve our communities."

Employees were told the paper was closing down in a pre-recorded video played during an emergency meeting, via Zoom, at which no company representatives spoke live.

Throughout bargaining, which began in 2017, the PG has racked up legal fees that would've paid for the costs of workers' proposals several times over. The company has repeatedly denied that it was rejecting proposals out of an inability to pay. It also refused to open its books to workers.

On Oct. 18, 2022, editorial workers - members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh-CWA - went on strike demanding a restoration of their previously bargained contract terms, dignified health care, and the company bargaining a successor agreement in good faith.

A series of sweeping, costly, and forewarned legal losses followed.

In January of 2023, an administrative law judge ruled that the company needed to reinstate the previous contract terms while bargaining a new agreement. In September of 2024, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) upheld and expanded on that ruling. In March of 2025, the PG was enjoined by the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to restore the illegally discarded health care terms. And on Nov. 10, 2025, the same court enforced the NLRB's 2024 decision, requiring the company to restore all the requested terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

The PG lost two further appeal attempts at the 3rd Circuit before requesting a stay of the health care injunction in the U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Solicitor General joined the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and the NLRB in arguing against the company's request for a stay.

Less than two days after the union and government filings, the Supreme Court rejected the company's stay request.

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About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

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