Washington Post staffers' historic strike gets management's attention, but stalemate not over: Insider
There's no question the Washington Post Guild got attention to its ongoing feud with management over contract negotiations with its historic walkout on Thursday.
But whether it translates into tangible results for its cause is another story entirely.
Days after 750 Washington Post workers walked off the job for 24 hours, it's not clear where things go from here in the apparent stalemate over pay raises and a new contract. Strikers said the company has negotiated in "bad faith" in the first major strike at the newspaper since the 1970s.
"Right now we have nothing else scheduled at the Washington Post," Washington-Baltimore News Guild executive director Cet Parks told Fox News Digital.
WASHINGTON POST STRIKERS CRITICIZE OWNER JEFF BEZOS DURING HISTORIC WALK-OUT: ‘NEEDS TO TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY'
One Washington Post insider who participated in Thursday's media strike said whether it was a "success" was up for interpretation.
Washington Post workers take part in a historic walkout on Thursday, December 7, 2023. (Cortney O'Brien/Fox News Digital)
"Did it rally the Guild membership, foster solidarity, draw some publicity, and send a strong message to management? Yes, it did," they said. "Will it break the logjam in the negotiations? Umm…"
The strike came as the Washington Post Guild – the union for the outlet’s workers – clashed with management regarding terms for current employees, as well as terms for proposed buyouts The Post offered earlier this season as the paper implements a 240-count job cut. The Post has seen a drop in subscribers and overall site traffic since 2020 and is facing a $100 million loss by the end of 2023, according to reports.
As part of the strike, the Guild asked Washington Post readers not to engage with the site in solidarity, and it had an effect, albeit a modest one. According to a posting in the Guild's Slack channel passed along to Fox News Digital, senior editors said site traffic was down 14% over Thursday and Friday.
Readers of the print version of the newspaper were also greeted with articles with no bylines; instead, many of them were written by "Washington Post Staff."
"No bylines on the front of the metro section for two days in a row. The Post wants to gut the storied department, and reporters are fighting back," public health reporter Fenit Nirappil wrote on X.
Interim CEO Patty Stonesifer, who assumed the role this year as CEO and publisher Fred Ryan departed for a new job, told staffers last month that forced layoffs could ensue if 240 workers don't take voluntary buyouts, according to the Washingtonian.
WASHINGTON POST STRIKERS SAY ‘WE DESERVE BETTER’ AS THEY WALK OFF JOB IN HISTORIC PROTEST
Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, has come under internal fire as well, although more ire was directed at Ryan on Thursday for what striking workers said was mismanagement of the newspaper.
Cat Zakrzewski, a Washington Post technology policy reporter, said, "Yes, I mean certainly this kind of activity has never happened in fifty years, and the fact that employees are out here taking this historic step of walking out on the job and showing this display, really shows the concerns about the leadership of the paper, from the owner to the publisher to the general strategy that we’re seeing right now with buyouts."
"I think that our owner has the power to take accountability for the fact that his publisher that he chose made poor business decisions that got us in this mess," Washington Post reporter and Washington Post Guild News Co-Chair Katie Mettler told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013.
The Guild claimed on X it was asking for 4% raises a year for three years for staffers, while the company countered with 2.25% for the first year of the contract, and 2% the next two years,
A Washington Post spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment. Last week, the Post said it disagreed with some of the Guild's public descriptions of contract negotiations without getting into specifics.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Fox News' Cortney O'Brien and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
