Washington Post employees walked out for a fair deal. The company offered peanuts.
Two weeks ago, more than 750 of our Post Guild members walked off the job for 24 hours to declare they were worth more than The Washington Post was offering at the bargaining table. After 18 months of negotiations, they demanded the company come back to the table in good faith to bargain a fair deal.
The company did come back — a testament to the power of our members’ collective action. But as is typical of The Post, its concessions were both difficult to get and meager when they arrived. The Post made slight improvements to its pay proposal, but still did not come close to keeping pace with inflation or our competition. The company also refused to engage with some of our other key policy proposals and failed to promise no layoffs in the coming months. The company threatened to pull those pay improvements off the table — and attack some of our key contractual job protections — if we don’t accept their subpar offer by Dec. 31.
At the same time, Post employees are about to lose 240 of our colleagues through a buyout process that was targeted and coercive. These job cuts will force us to do more work with less help amid two wars and a presidential election that could test the limits of our democracy.
This is unacceptable. Washington Post workers deserve better. We cannot recommend our colleagues accept this deal without additional concessions from the company, and we refuse to be bullied into a contract that is less than what we’re worth.
Your help during our 24-hour strike was invaluable. Now we’re asking you to turn up the pressure again. Please send a letter to our incoming Publisher Will Lewis telling him he must respect his workers and listen to our concerns.
How to help:
We've included text on the next page that will send with your name, but please feel free to personalize it with your own words: Are you a longtime reader or subscriber? Why do you value The Post’s journalism? Why do you support its workers in our fight to keep our jobs and earn a living wage?
When you click “Send Letter," the letter will be automatically sent to the inboxes of interim chief executive Patty Stonesifer, incoming publisher Will Lewis and general counsel Jay Kennedy, addressed to them; a copy will also be sent to the Post Guild.
Thank you for your support!