![\"Pittsburgh](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/therealnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/GettyImages-603242580-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nPittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 26, 2016. Photo By Raymond Boyd\/Getty Images<\/p>\n\n\n\n This story originally appeared in Common Dreams<\/a> on Jan. 23, 2024. It is shared here with permission under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Amid a nearly 16-month strike by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette <\/em>employees, the union representing workers at Pennsylvania\u2019s top newspaper by circulation on Monday filed an official grievance condemning the use of artificial intelligence to create an illustration published in the previous day\u2019s edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Join thousands of others who rely on our journalism to navigate complex issues, uncover hidden truths, and challenge the status quo with our free newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox twice a week<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Post-Gazette<\/em>\u2018s attempt to replace our labor with artificial intelligence is a serious concern to journalists not just in Pittsburgh, but all across the country,\u201d Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh president Zack Tanner said in a statement<\/a> Tuesday. \u201cAs newsroom jobs continue to disappear due to corporate greed and mismanagement, we stand firmly against any use of AI that takes work out of union members\u2019 hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/twitter.com\/PGHGuild\/status\/1749844296797180134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1749844296797180134%7Ctwgr%5E3c80d740f00bb442d2592dda15db0c078edbc957%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftherealnews.com%2Fai-will-not-scab-us-post-gazette-newsroom-decries-use-of-artificial-intelligence<\/p>\n\n\n\n Post-Gazette<\/em> production, distribution, and advertising workers have been on strike since October 2022, primarily over the loss of their healthcare plan. According to union officials, Block Communications, the paper\u2019s owner, refused to pay an additional $19 per week for each employee to keep workers\u2019 existing coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The paper\u2019s workers have been without a contract since March 2017, when the previous collective bargaining agreement expired without a replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Newspaper Guild workers are demanding:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Block Communications has hired more than two dozen strike-breaking workers to ensure continued Post-Gazette<\/em> publication during the prolonged union action. However, this is apparently the first time management has passed over human workers in favor of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAI will not scab us,\u201d the Newspaper Guild defiantly declared, using the colloquial labor term usually reserved for human beings who cross picket lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Common Dreams<\/em> reported<\/a> last year how the AI and fake content industries pose an increasing threat to journalists\u2019 livelihoods around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs the [Post-Gazette<\/em>] resists working with us to put an end to this strike, they continue to sink to new lows in an effort to crank out whatever product they can cobble together,\u201d Jen Kundrach, a striking illustrator at the paper, said Tuesday. \u201cThat they\u2019ve resorted to the use of inferior, AI-generated images rather than custom art by a staff illustrator shows how little they must value the talent of their guild staff. They\u2019d rather squander that talent and put out a subpar newspaper than come to the table and reach a fair agreement with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Post-Gazette<\/em> workers are buoyed by a January 2023 National Labor Relations Board ruling<\/a> that found management did not negotiate in good faith, imposed illegal working conditions, and unlawfully surveilled unionizing workers. Block Communications legal representatives appealed the decision. Strikers and their supporters are slated to attend a Saturday strategy session at the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Union Hall at 10 19th Street in the South Side Flats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tanner asserted that if management thinks \u201cthat this fight is over, they are dead wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWorkers on strike won\u2019t stop fighting, because Pittsburgh deserves a newspaper created by union labor, not artificial intelligence or scab workers,\u201d he added.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Brett Wilkins is a staff writer for Common Dreams.More by Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cAs newsroom jobs continue to disappear due to corporate greed and mismanagement, we stand firmly against any use of AI that takes work out of union members\u2019 hands,\u201d said one labor leader. BY\u00a0BRETT WILKINS JANUARY 24, 2024 (CommonDreams.org) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on August 26, 2016. Photo By Raymond… Continue reading ![\"Common](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/therealnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cd_stacked_white_600.png?resize=600%2C150&ssl=1\")
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BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n