NLRB Region 6-Pittsburgh Files for an Injunction Against Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Federal District Court

On August 14, 2024, Region 6-Pittsburgh Regional Director Nancy Wilson filed a petition for an injunction against Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. The petition asks for appropriate injunctive relief pending the final disposition before the Board on unfair labor practice charges alleging that PG Publishing Co., Inc. d/b/a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PPG), has engaged in, and is engaging in, acts and conduct in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.  

Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act authorizes the National Labor Relations Board to seek injunctions against employers and unions in federal district courts to stop unfair labor practices where, due to the passage of time, the normal Board processes are likely to be inadequate to effectively remedy the alleged violations.  

The petition alleges that PPG has failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the unions that represents the employees in separate bargaining units—the NewsGuild and Mailers, Pressmen and Advertisers (Production Units), and that PPG made unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment of the NewsGuild unit when it implemented its final offer after engaging in bad-faith bargaining with the union.  

Regional Director Wilson requests a Court Order requiring PPG to bargain in good faith with the unions, to rescind any unilateral changes, and to restore, honor, and continue the terms of the parties’ 2014–2017 collective-bargaining agreement for the NewsGuild unit, including making all prospective increased payments required by the Western Pennsylvania Teamsters and Employers’ Welfare Fund. For the Production Units, she is also requesting the Order make whole all affected employees prospectively for any financial harms caused by the loss of health benefits, including prospective reimbursement for out-of-pocket medical and substitute health insurance expenses, suffered as a result of PPG’s unlawful bad-faith bargaining. 

“Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is legally required to come to the bargaining table and bargain in good faith over these issues with its employees’ union,” said Nancy Wilson. “The NLRB will continue to defend workers’ right to collectively bargain, including seeking an injunction. We ask the Court to quickly grant the injunction.” 

In July, NLRB Administrative Law Judge Geoffrey Carter found that PPG failed and refused to bargain in good faith with the unions that represent the NewsGuild and Advertisers units. This case is pending before the Board. The cases involving the other Production Units remain pending a decision before an NLRB Administrative Law Judge after being litigated in separate trials. 

Established in 1935, the National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency that protects employees, employers, and unions from unfair labor practices and protects the right of private sector employees to join together, with or without a union, to improve wages, benefits and working conditions. The NLRB conducts hundreds of workplace elections and investigates thousands of unfair labor practice charges each year. Region 6 serves areas in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia from its Regional Office in Pittsburgh.