PITTSBURGH, Pa., and SAN JOSE, Calif.—Two significant groups of workers—News Guild members in Pittsburgh, Pa., and bus drivers in San Jose, Calif.—split court decisions March 25-26. The Pittsburgh News Guild won big in federal court, foreseeing a potential end to the nation’s longest strike. But a local San Jose judge ordered Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 workers there, on strike for 17 days, to go back to work.
The Pittsburgh win was the more momentous, while the San Jose loss affected more workers.
The News Guild of Pittsburgh struck the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 29 months ago, after its members overwhelmingly rejected a contract offer from the paper’s owners, the right-wing Block brothers.
The Blocks then unilaterally and illegally declared an impasse in the talks and trashed the workers’ health care plan in favor of a company plan that both cost more and covered less, plus miniscule raises after eight years without a signed contract. The federal appellate court in Philadelphia ordered a reversal of that impasse, among other moves it mandated for the Blocks.
The Blocks had also imposed massive and unilateral changes in working conditions. In one case, they imposed right-wing ideology on the Post-Gazette newsroom, too. When 1500 Trumpites invaded the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, attempting a coup d’etat to keep their leader in power, one Block brother came down the newsroom and ordered PPG reporters to change their stories to favor the invaders. The newsroom protested with a byline strike.
Meanwhile, the Blocks continually defied National Labor Relations Board rulings, from the agency’s administrative law judge all the way up to the full board, mandating they bargain in good faith and settle with the Guild. They even defied an injunction demand from U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.
That led then-NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo to take the unusual step of going to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, seeking to wield one of the board’s strongest weapons—an injunction with the threat of fines and jail terms—to get the Blocks back to bargaining. In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court’s three-judge panel sided with the Guild and the board.
“Members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh have stood and fought against the Post-Gazette’s illegal union-busting since October 2022, and we have been given the victory we’ve held the picket line waiting for so long,” Pittsburgh Guild President Zack Tanner, an interactive designer, told the strikers’ paper, the Pittsburgh Union Progress.
“The order for a 10(e) injunction” which Abruzzo sought, “is a win not just for the striking workers but for all workers in Pittsburgh who want to stand up and fight.”
The News Guild workers walked off the job on Oct. 18, 2022, shortly after four other unions did so—for the same reasons—at the Post-Gazette. One, a Teamsters local, later surrendered, and dis-solved its PPG unit. The three others later settled on the Blocks’ terms. That left the News Guild.
The Blocks hoped to outlast the Guild. They failed to do so once before, at their other paper, the Toledo (Ohio) Blade. After a 17-year struggle with the Blocks, the workers won a new contract there.
Restoring health coverage
Restoring the old health care coverage was the Guild’s top demand in Pittsburgh. Writing the ruling, Appellate Judge Cindy Chung ordered that. The judge also ordered the Blocks “to submit written bargaining progress reports every 30 days to the board’s regional compliance officer,” with copies to the Guild, and bargain on everything else, including changes in wages, hours and working conditions.
“The Post-Gazette could soon face further consequences,” the Union Progress reported. “The same court that issued the injunction is expected to rule on the NLRB’s request for enforcement of its September 2024 mandate that the paper ‘restore working conditions consistent with the entire 2014-17 contract, including paid time off, wages, employees having a guaranteed work week, and the right to question company discipline.’”
Judge Chung’s ruling also mandates back pay to Post-Gazette workers for wage reductions and increased health care costs covering the years since talks broke down and the strike began. And the ruling banned the paper’s bosses from illegally spying on the striking workers.
“News Guild-CWA members have a saying: ‘Whatever it takes,’” said union President Jon Schleuss. “Guild members have struck for 29 months knowing we were right and the company broke federal law. Today the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with us. We’re thrilled and will continue doing our job holding power to account, especially when it’s the boss.”
Out in San Jose, however, 1500 Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265 members faced municipal Superior Court Judge Daniel Nishigawa. He cited a no-strike clause in their expired contract and ordered them back to work. They returned to the buses on March 27 and to light rail on the 28th.
Wages and working conditions are the key issues in San Jose. Their employer, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, offered the workers an 11% raise over three years. The workers sought 18%. With more than 1100 voting, they had rejected the bosses’ offer by an 83%-17% margin.
Reading from a ruling drafted by Transportation Authority lawyers, Judge Nishigawa not only ordered the workers back to their jobs, but also ordered them and their supporters not to “interfere with the operations” of their employer “in any way.” The strike lasted 17 days.
The judge banned “defendant ATU, its officers, representatives, and all persons acting in concert with them are restrained and enjoined, directly or indirectly, from engaging in, permitting or performing all of the following acts: Sanctioning, assisting or engaging in any strike, slowdown, or stoppage of service, or in any manner engaging in the stoppage of the work operations of VTA.”
Local 265 President/Business Agent Raj Singh called the judge’s ruling “outrageous.” VTA Board Chair Sergio Lopez, who is also mayor of Campbell, Calif., told reporters, “ATU has a legally protected right to strike, so that’s not what’s in question here.”
“Shame on the VTA for challenging and backtracking on our members’ protected right to strike,” said ATU international President John Costa. “This order essentially slams the door shut on the hard-working VTA employees, who stood strong and united in their fight for fair wages, respect on the job, and better transit. It is demoralizing being forced back to work and being treated with disrespect.”
The workers suffered “an injustice” and “a direct slap in the face” Costa added. “They’ve been holding the line for three weeks because they want better for themselves and their community. They’re not just employees. They’re this city’s backbone and deserve nothing less than our support and respect. This court ruling is not the end, and our fight is far from over.”
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