For more than two centuries, the Pittsburgh Post‑Gazette has been one of Pennsylvania’s defining news institutions, but the newspaper’s 240-year run appears to be coming to a close in two months. That’s because the paper’s owners have decided to cease operations after hemorrhaging money for years amid a protracted labor fight with its own employees’ union, the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, a subsidiary of the Communications Workers of America. That fight highlights one of the odd paradoxes of organized labor’s intransigent way of thinking.
As an anchor of local reporting dating back to 1786, the Post-Gazette has remained a staple of regional identity for generations. Yet, the modern economics of journalism have put historic newspapers across the country under severe strain, and the Post‑Gazette has faced many of the same pressures.
Among those pressures include waning subscription sales, reduced advertising revenue, and a growing diversity of news outlets, particularly online, available to the those seeking the news of the day. All of those pressures have led to a reduction in the number of newspapers published nationwide—from 7,300 in 2005 to fewer than 4,500 in 2025, according to a report from Northwestern University’s Local News Initiative.
While those macro factors tell a large part of the story—and the Post-Gazette’s owner, Block Communications, revealed steep cash losses amounting to more than $350 million over the past 20 years—the paper also faced a labor battle that appears to have sealed its fate.
One of the key disputes was the paper’s 2020 cancellation of its employees’ health plan and implementation of new work rules. Workers at the Post-Gazette went out on strike in October 2022 to protest the company’s action, which the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) held violated labor law.
Meanwhile, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the paper’s appeal at the beginning of January. Shortly thereafter, the company announced it would be shutting down. The move reminds one of the 2023 demise of Yellow Trucking, which similarly went out of business amid reckless demands from the Teamsters union. In that case, Teamster leaders seemed fine with throwing 30,000 Yellow employees into the unemployment line—including 22,000 of their own members—rather than relent on their unsustainable demands.
With just two more months before the Post-Gazette closes for good, the union’s judicial victories seem to be the embodiment of phyrric ones. Perhaps the union could have compromised and helped save nearly 200 jobs. Instead, the union issued a sternly worded press release condemning the paper’s owners. How that puts bread on anyone’s table—anyone but union officials, that is—is up to others to guess.
About the author
Sean P. Redmond
Sean P. Redmond is Vice President, Labor Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
