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Hundreds of disgruntled Washington Post staffers are walking off the job on Thursday as part of a historic 24-hour work stoppage.
The Post, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, noted that it’s the "biggest labor protest at the company in nearly half a century." More than 750 employees are expected to participate.
It comes as the Washington Post Guild has clashed with management regarding terms for current employees, as well as terms for proposed buyouts The Post offered earlier this season as the paper implemented a 240-count job cut. This came after it was reported that the Washington Post was facing a whopping $100 million loss by the end of 2023.
The Washington Post, owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, noted that Thursday’s walkout is the "biggest labor protest at the company in nearly half a century." ((Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage) ERIC BARADAT/AFP via Getty Images)
"As workers planned a day-long picket and rally outside The Post’s offices in downtown Washington — and asked readers to abstain from the newspaper and its website for the day in solidarity — editors and other managers prepared to tackle many of the tasks that go into producing a daily news report, from writing articles to operating printing presses," the Post reported in a story written by unnamed staffers.
"Union members said they are walking out to protest a stalemate in bargaining with the company that has left workers without a contract for 18 months," the report continued. "They also object to the company’s recent offer of cost-saving buyouts to staffers, saying that the terms are stingy and that the ostensibly voluntary packages are being coerced by a threat of layoffs."
Post Guild steward Sarah Kaplan, a climate reporter, shared video on social media of striking workers marching outside the paper’s headquarters early Thursday.
"This is a declaration by hundreds of Washington Post staffers saying that if the company is to work with us fairly, it has to respect its employees," Kaplan said. "I know they will still try to get a paper out… but they can’t get a good paper out without us."
Many reporters, photographers and artists who will work during the walkout will withhold their names from content, according to the paper.
The Guild asked people to write letters to the publisher and also respect the picket line by avoiding Washington Post journalism on Thursday.
The Post reported that its own executives "deny the union’s claim that it has bargained in ‘bad faith' and say they still hope to reach a contract by the end of the month."
Washington Post Executive Editor Sally Buzbee has had a turbulent tenure leading the newsroom as the paper suffers financial woes in the post-Trump era. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The Washington Post said it hopes to reach an agreement that works for everyone.
"We respect the rights of our Guild-covered colleagues to engage in this planned one-day strike. We will make sure our readers and customers are as unaffected as possible. The Post’s goal remains the same as it has from the start of our negotiations: to reach an agreement with the Guild that meets the needs of our employees and the needs of our business," a Post spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
Prior to the walkout, a Post insider told Fox News Digital that it "reflects deep frustration" on issues like minimum salaries and seniority protections for staffers and that the company's unwillingness to further negotiate and only hold meetings merely to answer questions is "pretty high-handed and arrogant."
"[The] question is, what options are left?" the insider wondered. "You have a very frustrated workforce, with a lot of uncertainty and some… turmoil bubbling beneath and above the surface."
A Post spokesperson disputed some of the Guild's characterization of negotiations and suggested progress had been made over the past 18 months.
Fox News’ David Rutz and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
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