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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County requesting that Block Communications, the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, and all other unions representing employees of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette resume negotiations immediately, in order to resolve their current labor impasse without resorting to unilaterally imposed conditions of employment or a work stoppage.
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WHEREAS, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ("P-G") is currently involved in a labor dispute that could spell the end of a daily newspaper in this city; and
WHEREAS, a free and objective press, staffed by highly trained and experienced journalists, is fundamentally necessary to the informed public debate necessary for a culture to flourish; and
WHEREAS, recently, three unions at the paper have authorized votes to go on strike; and
WHEREAS, the Post-Gazette’s newsroom has not seen a pay increase in 14 years, and while newspapers themselves are experiencing financial hardships, the Post-Gazette’s parent company, Block Communications, remains highly profitable through related businesses that it built on the backs of its newspapers in the preceding century; and
WHEREAS, Block Communications has hired an out-of-state law firm known for its anti-union tactics, and management, through its out-of-town lawyer, has broken off negotiations and announced that it will impose a contract that takes away important benefits from employees; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to this unilaterally established contract, the P-G employees' share of health insurance premium payments would more than double, and insurance coverage of healthcare expenses would not begin until a family has spent $3,000 in co-pays; under this structure, health insurance for P-G employees will have an effective cost of $10,000; and
WHEREAS, Block Communications also seeks to do away with seniority in layoffs, a practice that has shown over the past 50 years that it places older workers at great risk of losing their employment, and the P-G's publisher al...
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