My relationship with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette predates my employment there by a couple generations. Both my dad and my grandfather were route managers in the circulation department. Newspapers were practically a piece of furniture in our house. My grandmother taught me to read using the comic strips in the Sunday edition.

When I began writing at the newspaper two years ago, I felt beyond fortunate to work for the same company where my dad spent so many years. I was excited to inform my community with well-reported daily journalism. And I was thankful that my newsroom had a union, which helped us have a voice in the workplace.

That union, the Newspaper Guild, and the unions that represent pressmen, typographers, drivers and advertising staff are now all on an unfair labor practice strike against the company that owns the PG, Block Communications Inc. Many of my coworkers, talented journalists dedicated to covering the communities in which we live and work, have gone more than 15 years without a raise. In 2020, the company illegally and unilaterally imposed new work rules, undermining years of hard work and negotiating between the union and the ownership. All we are asking is that Block Communications reinstate our 2017 conditions, come to the bargaining table in good faith, and meet the healthcare demands of our striking sibling unions at the Post-Gazette — the ones my dad and grandfather worked in so proudly.

Here are ways you can support our fight:

• Donate to the Pittsburgh Striker Fund. This fund directly supports me and my fellow strikers across all the Post-Gazette unions. Please note that you can tick the box to become a recurring donor, and that doing so makes our strike even stronger going forward.
  
• Cancel your subscription and write to co-owners of the Post-Gazette, John and Allan Block, over their bad-faith bargaining, and tell them you’ll only renew once our demands are met.
  
• Follow us on pghguild.com, Twitter and Instagram @pghguild.
  
• Subscribe to our strike publication, the Pittsburgh Union Progress, at unionprogress.com, follow us on Twitter @ThePUPNews and Instagram@pghunionprogress.
  
• Join us on the picket line, set up daily from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. this week at the North Shore offices of the PG (358 North Shore Drive 15212).
  

Thank you for your help,

Mick Stinelli