On Thursday, Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance crossed the picket line at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which is America’s current longest-running strike.
NewsGuild, CWA and PPPWU strikers have bravely held the picket line for more than two years as the company repeatedly violates federal labor law and hurts journalists and the Pittsburgh community. Vance ran an op-ed in the Post-Gazette which was published Thursday morning.
“JD Vance has crossed a very obvious picket line by striking Americans,” NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss said. “And JD Vance is a scab just like anybody else who crosses a picket line.”
“By crossing our picket line, Vance has aligned himself with the lawbreakers who run the Post-Gazette,” Schleuss said. “It’s a slap in the face to the workers who have made incredible sacrifices to fight against the company’s illegal actions and gone 24 months without a paycheck,” Schleuss said.
The strike could end at any time if the company followed federal law and provided workers health insurance. The company has been repeatedly challenged by the National Labor Relations Board and will have to appear in federal court on Monday as it faces a rare injunction for its illegal behavior.
Striking workers marked two years on strike this month. Workers first went on strike in October 2022 over the company’s failure to provide health insurance and respect collective bargaining agreements.
“With less than two weeks before Election Day, J.D. Vance showed his true colors when he crossed our picket line to publish an op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – a newspaper due in federal court in a matter of days to face the repercussions for repeatedly violating U.S. labor laws and the rights of workers.” said CWA District 2-13 Vice President Mike Davis.
“Working people in Pennsylvania are watching to see whose side J.D. Vance is really on, and his actions today spoke volumes,” he said. “Just like Donald Trump, J.D. Vance is a scab.”
Workers continue to publish their strike paper, the Pittsburgh Union Progress. You can support the strikers by donating to their effort.