Rep. Summer Lee Condemns Mass Layoffs, Union-Busting at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Under New Ownership

PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 1, 2026 - Today, on International Workers' Day, Congresswoman Summer L. Lee (PA-12) condemned the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's new ownership after reports that the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism moved to slash as much as 40-50% of the newsroom, including roughly 80% of former striking workers and nearly every current Newspaper Guild officer.

The decision comes just days after Rep. Lee joined local, state, and federal elected officials in sending a letter welcoming the Institute to Pittsburgh while urging its leadership to preserve the Post-Gazette as a union paper, bargain in good faith, protect newsroom jobs, and understand that in Pittsburgh, labor peace and worker dignity are inseparable from public trust. In response, Congresswoman Lee issued the following statement:

"Workers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette have once again suffered betrayal after enduring years of illegal union-busting. New ownership had an opportunity to turn the page, rebuild trust, and invest in the local journalism this region deserves. Instead, they doubled down on the practices that brought this institution to the brink in the first place. They should correct course immediately by reinstating the workers who were unjustly cut, bargaining in good faith with the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, and rebuilding a newsroom worthy of this community. Pittsburgh deserves better, the workers deserve better, and we are not done fighting alongside them."

Congresswoman Summer Lee serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce. Since taking office in January 2023, shehas delivered historic levels of federal investment totaling over $2.7 Billion brought back to Western PA, including over $580 million for infrastructure, over $110 million for affordable transit, over $500 million to keep clean energy manufacturing at home in Pennsylvania, and over $55 million on clean energy efforts in and around schools to help keep our kids and communities safe. These investments will help improve Western Pennsylvania's infrastructure and transit, ensure cleaner air and drinking water, lower housing costs, fund research institutions, fuel clean manufacturing, fund STEM innovation and entrepreneurship, boost workforce development, and create thousands of good paying union jobs. Lee and her team have also delivered casework and constituent services to over 4,000 constituents with issues ranging from helping our seniors and disabled community access Medicare and social security to helping folks secure housing and helping families with immigration support and passports.