Washington Post journalists stage historic walk-out amid festering labor dispute

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Hundreds of Washington Post employees are in the midst of a historic 24-hour walk-out Thursday as they seek to ramp up pressure on management amid long-stalled contract negotiations and threatened layoffs.

Negotiations over a new contract have been stalled for a year-and-a-half as nearly 40 individuals have been laid off over the past year due to what the Washington Post Guild, the labor union representing the newspaper's employees, said was "our previous publisher’s mismanagement."

"Time and again, we’ve told the company’s leaders that we’re worth more. They have refused to listen. They have refused to bargain in good faith. They have broken the law again and again," the guild said in an online statement asking for readers to sign a letter to management protesting their conditions.

The newspaper in October offered voluntary buyouts to employees across the business in an effort to shed 240 jobs in a bid to mitigate an estimated $100 million operating loss. But just half of the buyouts have been accepted, according to multiple media reports.

Layoffs have now been threatened to reach the quota, according to the guild.

In addition to taking to the picket line, Post employees have urged readers not to engage with the newspaper's online content on Thursday to further tighten the screws on management.