Amid strike, some Pittsburgh Post-Gazette workers quit union
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette put out a digital edition Wednesday despite a strike called by the union representing the reporters, editors and photographers.
Thirty years ago, a strike sidelined both The Pittsburgh Press and the Post-Gazette. When it was over, only the Post-Gazette survived.
KDKA-TV's Andy Sheehan was a reporter at the Post-Gazette during that strike 30 years ago and has a unique perspective of these events.
Some of these reporters, editors and photographers on the picket weren't even born 30 years ago, when Teamsters struck The Pittsburgh Press Company, sounding the death knell for The Pittsburgh Press.
Today, the landscape is even bleaker. Declining readership and advertising, coupled with the digital world of social media, the Post-Gazette says it's been losing money and its reporters have been without a contract for five years. But these strikers don't believe their job action will put the paper out of business for good.
"We believe we're actually here to preserve the paper in the long term. We believe that us winning a fair contract is the only way to keep the Post-Gazette the phenomenal place it is," Union secretary Alex McCann said.
But many of their fellow staffers disagree. The paper says 40 quit the union on Tuesday and are crossing the picket line. On Wednesday, the paper put out a digital edition with bylines from many who disagree with calling a strike at this time.
"Yeah, there is some division absolutely," McCann said. We are going to continue to speak with all of our colleagues, those who are not out on strike yet with us, continue to try to assuage their concerns, help them understand why this fight is important, and help them understand that we want them and need them out here with us so we can win this fight for all of us."
Andrew Conte, the director of the Center of Media Innovation at Point Park University, says while this strike may not put the Post-Gazette out of business, it will diminish its quality the longer it goes on.
"This is a sad day for the journalists who have walked out, it's sad for journalists who are crossing the picket line and still filing stories, sad for the publisher, and I think it's sad for the city," Conte said. "We're going to have fewer stories, having fewer people asking important questions."