Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to close after 239 years following union dispute

(CN) — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced on Wednesday its plans to cease operations entirely on May 3 after nearly 240 years, following a yearslong labor dispute that wound its way through federal jurisdictions up to the Supreme Court.

Originally the Pittsburgh Gazette before consolidation with the Pittsburgh Post in 1927, the Post-Gazette was first published on July 29, 1786. It is among the oldest newspapers in the United States and is the first to be published west of the Allegheny Mountains.

In a press release, Post-Gazette parent company Block Communications cited a $350 million shortfall over the last 20 years, coupled with a court order demanding that the newsroom operate under a 2014 labor contract, as determining factors in the paper’s closure.

“We deeply regret the impact this decision will have on Pittsburgh and the surrounding region,” the company continued. “The Block family is proud of the service the Post-Gazette has provided to Pittsburgh for nearly a century and will exit with their dignity intact.”

The decision — which threatens to significantly shrink news presence in the Steel City — did not come without controversy. Shortly after Block Communications’ announcement, Pennsylvania Senator Lindsey M. Williams, a Democrat representing parts of Pittsburgh and the surrounding Allegheny County, lambasted the company for its decision to close after it had fought union contract renegotiation efforts for years.

“The Block family should be ashamed of themselves,” Williams wrote in a press release. “They could have saved a ton of money if they just negotiated in good faith with the Newspaper Guild from the beginning. It is absurd that they repeatedly blame workers for their failure to manage their own business.”

“My heart goes out to the Post-Gazette workers who have been through so much and have never deserved how they were treated,” Williams added. “They are the only ones leaving that building with their dignity intact.”

Labor disagreements began in 2017, when the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and PG Publishing, the Post-Gazette’s owner, first began negotiations for a new contract.

Three-and-a-half years later, in July 2020, PG Publishing declared an impasse in negotiations, imposing wage cuts, providing more limited health care, rescinding vacation time and reducing job protections for workers.

The Newspaper Guild opposed the owner’s decision, claiming an impasse had not occurred and that it was willing to continue discussions to reach an agreement.

In October 2022, unionized Post-Gazette workers initiated a strike, accusing PG Publishing of unlawfully throwing out their 2014-17 union contract and demanding the reinstatement of its terms.

In January 2023, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board sided with the union, finding PG Publishing had refused to bargain in good faith, unlawfully declared the impasse and illegally surveilled striking employees.

The board affirmed the judge’s findings in September 2024, prompting a petition for review by PG Publishing.

However, a panel of Third Circuit judges denied the publisher’s petition in November 2025, agreeing with the board that PG Publishing both refused to sufficiently bargain with the union and used its own bad faith as pretext to declare the impasse.

“Substantial evidence supports the [administrative law judge’s] finding that PG Publishing bargained in bad faith,” wrote U.S. Circuit Judge Cindy K. Chung, a Joe Biden appointee, in the appeals court opinion. “PG Publishing’s proposals as a whole would have required the Guild to cede to PG Publishing the most fundamental of employment terms.”

While the laborer’s strike formally ended on Nov. 24, PG Publishing sought a Supreme Court review of the Third Circuit decision.

The Supreme Court ultimately denied PG Publishing’s petition for review on Wednesday; hours later, Block Communications announced the Post-Gazette’s planned closure.

According to the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, Post-Gazette employees were informed of the planned closure via a prerecorded video played during a Zoom meeting.

Following Block Communications’ announcement, NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss — who oversees the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh and other regional newsroom unions — expressed disappointment regarding the Post-Gazette’s fate.

“Today the Block family admitted that they don’t have the skill to run a business and also follow the law,” Schleuss wrote in a news release. “The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Blocks spent millions on lawyers to fight union workers, fight journalists and break federal labor law. They lost at every level, including now at the Supreme Court. Pittsburgh deserves better and we will continue to fight to make sure all news companies follow the law and serve our communities.”

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