PITTSBURGH, PA - The newsroom staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, represented by the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh/CWA 38061, today took the unprecedented act of voting "no confidence" in PG Executive Editor Keith Burris, Publisher John Robinson Block and newspaper owner Block Communications Inc. (BCI) for their escalating unconscionable treatment of employees, union members and managers alike.
In further protest of this hostile work environment, PG journalists will withhold their bylines from stories, photographs and graphics beginning Wednesday and continuing indefinitely. Members who work on the copy and web desks and therefore who do not have bylines will wear buttons reading "I support the byline strike."
Additionally, all members will wear "No Confidence" buttons in the newsroom as well as stickers supporting mistreated managers and decrying BCI's cruelty. (Please see attached).
Both the no-confidence vote and byline strike were overwhelmingly approved by Guild members at an emergency membership meeting today.
"Keith Burris, John Robinson Block and his twin brother Allan, BCI chairman, have declared an unprecedented scorched-earth war on their employees and the culture of the PG newsroom," said Michael A. Fuoco, a 35-year PG reporter and Guild president of the local representing 140 journalists.
"They have created a culture of fear, hostility and intimidation in the newsroom. They have transformed a previously collegial, pleasant and enjoyable workplace -- one conductive to Guild members fulfilling our journalistic calling -- into a tense, toxic environment, bereft of joy and respect.
"We must take a stand against this orchestrated attack on the very soul of the newspaper we love. We find it hypocritical of Burris to opine his columns about t he need for civility in society when his treatment of employees is so outrageously uncivil."
Burris, whose controversial appointment as executive editor occurred nine months ago, has:
- Fired or forced out three beloved newsroom managers with combined service of nearly 100 years to the PG because they stood up to his dictatorial actions. Four other managers have left this year and one departure is pending.
- Cultivated hurt and bewilderment among his staff through his belittling behavior towards individual Guild members. This has led to turmoil and uncertainty among the remaining staff and has contributed to a desperate exodus of 16 talented journalists from the 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning newspap
