They won their strike fair and square. Now their rich bosses are closing up shop.

On Nov. 24, 2025, in a major and hardwon victory, Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh members finally returned to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after more than three years on strike. Then, on Jan. 7, 2026, workers were notified that Block Communications Inc.—the company that owns the Post-Gazette as well as the Toledo Blade, the Buckeye Sports Network, and a number of TV stations in Ohio and Kentucky—said that it will be ceasing operations at the Post-Gazette on May 3 of this year. We speak with Steve Mellon, a veteran photographer and writer who was on strike for over three years at the Post-Gazette, about how workers are processing this devastating news, and about their push to launch a new news source by and for working people. 

Additional links/info: 

• Pittsburgh Alliance for People-Empowered Reporting (PAPER) website
• Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh website, Facebook page, and Instagram
• Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh “Pittsburgh Post-Gazette owners couldn’t bust the union, so they shut down the paper”
• Maximillian Alvarez, Working People / TRNN, “The longest-running strike in the US is over—and the workers won”
• Kris B. Mamula, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Post-Gazette to publish final edition and cease operations on May 3”

Featured Music: 

• Jules Taylor, Working People Theme Song

Credits: Audio Post-Production:

• Jules Taylor 

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