WaPo Staffers To Stage Walk-Out

Hundreds of Washington Post employees are planning to walk off the job Thursday, according to a video shared by the newsroom's union on X.

As the Post's mid-December buyout acceptance deadline looms, the Washington Post Guild announced its workers will go on a 24-hour strike on Dec. 7, the Guild shared in a letter on X addressed to readers. Around 700 union members are planning to take part, a source close to the matter told The Messenger.

The Guild said it has been negotiating its contract for 18 months, "but management has refused to bargain in good faith and repeatedly – and illegally – shut down negotiations over key issues."

The Post's labor negotiations have been complicated by the fact that its owner, Jeff Bezos, is one of the world's richest men, contributing to a sentiment that the cuts being imposed are unnecessary and that diminishing its franchise is avoidable.

"If you want to own the Washington Post and you think of the Washington Post as something more than just a business, you'll bear the costs of keeping the staff together and putting out the best possible paper you can," the told The Messenger.

In a lengthy statement attached to the X post, the group asked readers to not engage with Washington Post content, including games, podcasts and recipes, or otherwise "not cross the picket line." The group also asked readers to send a letter to management – more than 1,000 of which have already been sent.

“Our work has won international acclaim and coveted awards and made The Post lucrative again. Then our former publisher’s bad business decisions squandered our profits,” the Guild added. 

This move comes after management at the Post announced there may be layoffs if not enough staffers accepted buyouts. As of last week, only 36 out of the 119 newsroom staff needed to accept buyouts had done so.