Against Cuts at The Post, NewsGuild-CWA Members Push Back

Last week, in a devastating move, management at the Washington Post (The Post) announced layoffs of nearly a third of staff, including foreign correspondents in places like Ukraine. In response, members of the Washington Post Guild and the Washington Post Tech Guild, both part of the Washington-Baltimore News Guild-CWA Local 32035, picketed outside The Post headquarters on February 5 with over 1,000 supporters. NewsGuild-CWA President Jon Schleuss and AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson spoke. CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam also attended to show her solidarity.

This latest round of layoffs follows a pattern of cuts and attacks by billionaires as they buy, slash, and refocus news outlets to serve the powerful instead of holding power to account. Under the ownership of Jeff Bezos, whose net worth is estimated at roughly $244 billion, The Post underwent the loss of nearly 200,000 readers in 2024 when he directed the paper to withhold its endorsement of then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

Members of The Post Guild wrote in a statement, “The Post Guild vehemently opposes any more staff reductions. Now is the time to stand in solidarity with our laid-off colleagues and with those who remain, who will now be asked to do more with less.”

There is still time to save The Post. Members are asked to send letters of disapproval to the newspaper’s leadership.

Post Guild members ended their statement with a warning to the owner, writing, “If Jeff Bezos is no longer willing to invest in the mission that has defined this paper for generations and serve the millions who depend on Post journalism, then The Post deserves a steward who will.”

Click here to support your union siblings facing job cuts at The Post.

Click here to watch highlights from the rally.

 
At a picket held on February 5, members of the Washington Post Guild and the Washington Post Tech Guild rallied outside of the Washington Post headquarters, calling for an end to mass layoffs. Supporters included AFA-CWA International President Sara Nelson and CWA Secretary-Treasurer Ameenah Salaam. This came after management announced layoffs impacting nearly a third of staff at the newspaper. At the rally, Melissa Lang (center), a former local enterprise reporter for The Post and organizer with the Washington-Baltimore News Guild, spoke to the crowd.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.