As we go deeper into the holiday season in our 13th month on an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) strike against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, we know what to be thankful for: The support we get from people like you — who have donated to our strike fund, joined us on picket lines and engaged in other job actions like calling members of the Block family to encourage them to negotiate a fair contract. As a result of that support, we know we are way closer to the end of this labor strife than the beginning.
Yet we continue to hear on an almost daily basis how desperate the Post-Gazette is to bust our unions. The latest is the extraordinary lengths the company is going to to hire scab replacement workers to try and break the strike. How extraordinary?
Sixteen replacement workers received moving expenses, quarterly bonuses and weekly stipends totaling more than $78,000 in the past year. Those of us who have worked at the Post-Gazette for many years know the company seldom pays anyone above the union minimum.
The replacement Washington, D.C., correspondent received $5,000 for moving expenses, $6,000 in quarterly payments for housing and cost of living, and a $20-a-week pay stipend. That’s substantially more than the two previous (notably non-scab) Washington correspondents combined!
The irony: This strike started because the company refused to pay $19 a week per person in increased healthcare costs — a total of about $66,000 — for current workers who sold ads, printed the paper, stuffed inserts and delivered the paper to stores and carriers. But the Post-Gazette thinks nothing of paying more than that to bring in strike-breakers from out of town and paying massive overtime and bonuses to people who have crossed the picket line.
Please show the Blocks they can’t use out-of-town labor to break our strike by donating to the Pittsburgh striker fund. Every dollar donated to this fund goes directly to help strikers pay their rent or mortgage, buy food and cover any unexpected expenses.
Thanks and have a great holiday season.
In solidarity,
Ed Blazina
First VP, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh
Transportation Reporter On Strike for 13 months
Wisconsin Bail Out the People Movement 
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