Washington Post journalists walk off jobs in one-day strike

Journalists at The Washington Post walked off their jobs in a one-day strike Thursday.

More than 750 staff members at the Post walked out, refusing to work for 24 hours in what they say is the “biggest labor protest at the company” in 48 years.

The Washington Post Newspaper Guild announced in a letter to readers Tuesday that its members will be participating in a one-day strike after management refused to “bargain in good faith” on issues including pay equity, pay raises, remote work policies and mental health resources.

Employees have planned a picket and rally outside the Post’s downtown Washington office and asked readers to refrain from reading the newspaper and website for the day.

Union members are protesting the stalemate with management that has left workers without a contract for 18 months, the Post’s staff writes.

The strike comes nearly two months after the company announced it has plans to cut more than 200 jobs through voluntary buyouts.

According to Sarah Kaplan, chief steward and bargaining committee member for the guild, management claimed its most recent offer to employees was its “last, best and final” offer but employees “will tell you that the company’s offer is simply not good enough.”

The offer from management, the guild says, does not include wage increases, fails to guarantee mental health benefits and “does not engage with a host of other open issues that are important to Post Guild members.”

William Lewis, former CEO of Dow Jones and the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, is preparing to step into the role of the Post’s new CEO and publisher next month. Fred Ryan, the company’s former CEO, stepped down earlier this year.

In a letter announcing the strike, the union said its members have reported through difficult times and “made The Post lucrative again,” despite “our former publisher’s bad business decisions.” Post employees took the brunt of the economic hardship instead of executives, the letter said.

It states that the news organization can’t stay competitive, retain talent and produce “the kind of elite journalism you rely on” without giving staff a fair deal.

“We’re demanding that the Post come back to the bargaining table and continue negotiating until we reach a truly fair agreement,” Kaplan said in an emailed statement to The Hill.

The company has made clear it will be able to print and deliver its newspapers as normal Thursday and Friday. Kaplan told the Post that she expects editors will “still try to get a paper out” on Thursday but they can’t “get a good paper out without us.”

After several successful years under the ownership of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, the newspaper has experienced a drop in audiences and subscribers and left executives looking to reduce its staff. The company is projected to take a $100 million loss by the end of the year.