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Steve Mellon

@stevemellon412.bsky.social
527 followers 170 following 0 posts

Journalist currently on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, now writing for the striker-produced Pittsburgh Union Progress.

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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Maximillian Alvarez @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
It is objectively good that Newsom asked for a federal emergency declaration for Orange County & Trump approved it. It is a national travesty that one was never signed for East P@lestine & so many other communities that begged for one, still need one, & never got one share.google/uXJcHgcVVfJC...
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Trump approves emergency declaration for Orange County amid chemical threat in Garden Grove
President Donald Trump has approved California’s request for a Presidential Emergency Declaration to support ongoing response operations tied to the chemical incident in Garden Grove, Gov. Gavin Ne…
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
The Real News Network @therealnews.com · 20/05/2026
“We don’t expect anything good to come out of the kind of people that Trump puts in charge of these agencies, or Trump himself, but it’s like, what is the constituency for ‘Kill More Coal Miners’?” - @kimkelly.bsky.social
therealnews.com
Kim Kelly: Coal miners are dying, and Trump betrayed them
“We don't expect anything good to come out of the kind of people that Trump puts in charge of these agencies, or Trump himself, but it's like, what is the constituency for ‘Kill More Coal Miners’”?
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Maximillian Alvarez @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
🚨 New from me @therealnews.com I speak with 3 @pghguild.com members and now-former employees at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after they were laid off by the paper's new owners, The Venetoulis Institute, who also own the @thebaltimorebanner.com therealnews.com/venetoulis-i...
therealnews.com
Venetoulis Institute 'saves' the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by purging union members who went on strike
Just as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was set to shutter, it was purchased by the Venetoulis Institute, which also owns the Baltimore Banner. Then, they fired most of the union workers who participated ...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh @pghguild.com · 29/04/2026
Today, the incoming ownership of @post-gazette.com received the following open letter from city, county, state, and federal elected officials welcoming the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism to Pittsburgh, and urging strong staffing and good-faith bargaining.
"						4/29/2026

Attn: Stewart Bainum Jr., Chair, Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism


CC: Bob Cohn, President & CEO; Audrey Cooper, Editor-in-Chief; Andre Jones, Chief People Officer; Monique Jones, VP Editorial & Business Development; 


Dear Mr. Bainum,

The undersigned are writing to warmly welcome you to Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. 

The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism’s purchase of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has helped to preserve an historic institution responsible for recording much of this region’s history, dating back to 1786, as well as its future. 

An independent press is paramount, both for an informed populace to fully participate in democracy, and for the overall health of our communities. Although we fully anticipate days in which your workers’ critical coverage scrutinizes us closely, as public figures, we embrace those days. It’s part of our responsibility to the public we serve. 

That same responsibility extends to informing you of some basic foundations for success here.""It is crucial that the Post-Gazette remain a union paper, that you bargain in good faith with the members of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh, and strive to maintain as robust of a staff as possible, providing the caliber of in-depth local coverage our communities deserve. 

Should you fall short of that standard, the PG will struggle, and we will all be worse off for it. Because we are invested in your success, we are invested in labor peace at the Post-Gazette.

The sacrifices made to reinstate workers’ contract at the PG extended beyond those who struck for three-plus years. Many neighbors scraped together money they didn’t have to keep those workers housed and fed. Some Pittsburghers resolutely walked picket lines. Plenty did both.

Currently, you have so much good will. Having salvaged the PG from the consequences of bad business practices of the past, that good will is well-earned. We simply implore you to understand that so much of that good will is attached to the well-being of those workers, who fought for their neighbors, who in turn see themselves in the workers’ fight.""Any path forward that separates the future of the Post-Gazette from the dignity of its workers will misread this city entirely. In Pittsburgh, solidarity is a shared ethic, not just a sentiment that we profess, but a commitment that we practice.

We want to see you benefit from that same commitment from our communities well into the future. That trust is precious. And in a union town, it’s invaluable.""Wishing you a warm Pittsburgh welcome,

Congressman Chris Deluzio
Congresswoman Summer L. Lee

Jay Costa, Pennsylvania State Senate, District 43
Lindsey Williams, Pennsylvania State Senate, District 38

Aerion Abney, Pennsylvania General Assembly, District 19
Jessica Benham, Pennsylvania General Assembly, District 36
Dan Goughnour, Pennsylvania General Assembly, District 35
Emily Kinkead, Pennsylvania General Assembly, District 20
Jen Mazzocco, Pennsylvania General Assembly, District 42
Arvind Venkat, Pennsylvania General Assembly, District 30

Aaron Adams, Allegheny County Council, District 9
Jordan Botta, Allegheny County Council, District 13
Lissa Geiger Shulman, Allegheny County Council, District 3
Dan Grzybek, Allegheny County Council, District 5
Bethany Hallam, Allegheny County Councilmember At-Large
Alex Rose, Allegheny County Councilmember At-Large

Deb Gross, Pittsburgh City Council, District 7
Barb Warwick, Pittsburgh City Council, District 5 
Khari Mosley, Pittsburgh City Council, District 9"
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh @pghguild.com · 21/04/2026
Well, we cleared 1,000 🙂
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Maximillian Alvarez @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
I was in East Palestine this week for the 3-yr anniversary of one of the worst industrial disasters in US history. Here's the compilation of testimonies residents in/around EP shared w/ me @therealnews.com I beg you to listen & share their stories w/ everyone you can therealnews.com/biden-trump-...
therealnews.com
Biden, Trump, the media, the public—we have all failed the residents of East Palestine, OH
“I'm pissed at how many people have forgotten about what happened here. I'm pissed that everybody thinks we're doing fine, that everything in East Palestine, OH, is good. It's not.”
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
In These Times @inthesetimes.com · 17/11/2025
Starbucks workers are on strike. Chronic understaffing, unfair wages and hundreds of unfair labor practices pushed a 92% super-majority to walk out on Red Cup Day and beyond. The Working People Podcast with @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social speaks with the baristas on taking an indefinite stand.
inthesetimes.com
Facing unprecedented labor violations, Starbucks workers overwhelmingly agree to strike indefinitely
Unfair wages, chronic understaffing and hundreds of ULPs have led to a Starbucks Workers United super-majority vote to strike.
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
The @pghguild.com's @stevemellon412.bsky.social has two important stories today: One about how his fellow strikers are feeling after Monday's court ruling in their favor, and another about the ongoing struggles and mutual support of people in East Palestine, Ohio: www.unionprogress.com
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh @pghguild.com · 10/11/2025
BREAKING: We won! Today the 3rd Circuit Court ordered the @post-gazette.com to restore our contract it illegally tore up 5 years ago. That’s our health care, PTO, right to a 40-hr. work week, short-term disability and so much more we’ve struck for 3+ years. pghguild.com/2025/11/10/p...
A yellow bridge in front of a city background with three banners reading "POST-GAZETTE STRIKERS WILL WIN".
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
The @pghguild.com strike paper's top story: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit orders the PG to restore the striking journalists' contract, including its health care plan, and bargain a new one, and strikers are looking forward to returning to work: www.unionprogress.com/2025/11/10/t...
unionprogress.com
Third Circuit Court of Appeals rules for striking Pittsburgh journalists - Pittsburgh Union Progress
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Monday morning ruled for the journalists of the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh in the federal case behind their more than three-year strike at the Pit...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
adamlisberg.bsky.social @adamlisberg.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Not every horror is modern! Amazing untold story in the Pittsburgh Union Progress by @stevemellon412.bsky.social about the hundreds of workers, mostly Black, who died building a West Virginia tunnel and were buried in unmarked graves almost a century ago. www.unionprogress.com/2025/08/28/a...
unionprogress.com
At Hawk’s Nest, hundreds of sickened workers died, then were hidden and forgotten; it wasn’t an accident - Pittsburgh Union Progress
Sam Ward spent the first few minutes of Wednesday, Feb. 15, 1933, trying to suck enough air into his lungs to keep himself alive. Most likely he was lying on a bed in a crudely built shack near a smal...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Stephanie Strasburg @stephstrasburg.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Deepening the context of why we mark Labor Day, @stevemellon412.bsky.social/Pittsburgh Union Progress traveled to West Virginia for the story of America’s deadliest workplace disaster & the hundreds of sickened workers who died, then were hidden & forgotten: www.unionprogress.com/2025/08/28/a...
unionprogress.com
At Hawk’s Nest, hundreds of sickened workers died, then were hidden and forgotten; it wasn’t an accident - Pittsburgh Union Progress
Sam Ward spent the first few minutes of Wednesday, Feb. 15, 1933, trying to suck enough air into his lungs to keep himself alive. Most likely he was lying on a bed in a crudely built shack near a smal...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Stephanie Strasburg @stephstrasburg.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Steelmaking deaths like the 2 this month at U.S. Steel’s Clairton plant were once almost routine. Now, deadly explosions are big news, but construction/transport jobs are bigger killers. A look at the worker safety landscape, then & now: www.publicsource.org/clairton-cok... @publicsource.org
publicsource.org
Fatal explosions are big news, but construction, transportation jobs are now bigger killers
The Clairton Coke Works explosion killed 2 and injured 10. The tragedy highlights progress and lingering risks in U.S. workplace safety.
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Helluva @pghguild.com strike paper today, leading with @stevemellon412.bsky.social digging into the Hawk's Nest Tunnel, America's worst workplace disaster you may not have heard about; a Labor Day Parade preview; and we have a new advertiser. Thanks, @412foodrescue.bsky.social! unionprogress.com
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 23/08/2025
The @pghguild.com strike paper's @stevemellon412.bsky.social covers an important story -- people dying on the job. Says a @steelworkers.bsky.social official, "On average, today alone, 14 workers in this country will not return after their shift." www.unionprogress.com/2025/08/23/t...
unionprogress.com
Trump budget cuts benefit corporations that value profits over worker lives and health - Pittsburgh Union Progress
We remember a moment in 2024 when a guy in a baggy suit surrounded himself with Pennsylvania workers wearing hard hats and promised to make things better for working-class people. The baggy suit guy w...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
PUP's @stevemellon412.bsky.social reports from the @aflcio.org Pittsburgh stop: "So when those days get hard and when you take those punches in your face, in your gut, in your back ... you remember that you have power. We are the movement of the now. We fight.” www.unionprogress.com/2025/07/22/a...
unionprogress.com
AFL-CIO message for workers: 'It’s easy to get discouraged, but we have something they don’t' - Pittsburgh Union Progress
People with money and power have now fixed things so that if you get killed at work and want the benefit of a proper and timely investigation into your demise, you must die during normal office hours....
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Maximillian Alvarez @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
I fricken love the Pittsburgh Union Progress (the newspaper made by journalists on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) and I fricken love sister @kimkelly.bsky.social ❤️ ✊🏽
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Erin Hébert @merylscreech.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
My colleague and comrade @stevemellon412.bsky.social has a write-up on @kimkelly.bsky.social's talk at the Mt. Lebanon Public Library last night! Thanks so much to Kim for letting @johnnysantapup.bsky.social talk about the @pghguild.com beforehand. www.unionprogress.com/2025/06/24/f...
unionprogress.com
'Fight Like Hell' author Kim Kelly shatters assumptions about working-class people, labor history - Pittsburgh Union Progress
We rolled into Monday concerned the world had gone a bit wobbly, with American bombs screaming down on Iranian nuclear facilities and news that we’re all about to fry in a giant atmospheric slow cooke...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Maximillian Alvarez @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
🚨 New @therealnews.com: An update on the longest ongoing strike in the US After 2.5 yrs on strike at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, @pghguild.com members are the last ones holding the line. I speak w/ 3 strikers about where things stand w/ the strike & how you can help therealnews.com/an-update-on...
An update on the longest ongoing strike in the US: ‘Some things don’t change at the Post-Gazette’

by Maximillian Alvarez
May 28, 2025

“It’s extremely important that companies can’t do what the Post-Gazette is trying to do… If we have to be the last people to draw that line in the sand… so be it. We’ve been here this long, there’s no reason to go away now.”
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
The Real News Network @therealnews.com · 28/05/2025
“It’s extremely important that companies can’t do what the Post-Gazette is trying to do… If we have to be the last people to draw that line in the sand… so be it. We’ve been here this long, there’s no reason to go away now.” @pghguild.com
therealnews.com
An update on the longest ongoing strike in the US: 'Some things don't change at the Post-Gazette'
“It's extremely important that companies can't do what the Post-Gazette is trying to do… If we have to be the last people to draw that line in the sand… so be it. We've been here this long, there's no...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
San Francisco Public Press @sfpublicpress.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
We thank the Park Center for Independent Media at @ithacacollege.bsky.social for this honor and congratulate our fellow award recipients @stevemellon412.bsky.social, @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social and @jewishcurrents.bsky.social
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Maximillian Alvarez @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
Big News: @therealnews.com won an Izzy Award for our coverage of the East Palestine train derailment & chemical disaster. I'm honored to share this award w/ @stevemellon412.bsky.social, @sfpublicpress.bsky.social & @jewishcurrents.bsky.social. Full statement below ❤️✊🏽 therealnews.com/trnn-wins-20...
therealnews.com
TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster
TRNN is honored to share this prestigious award with Steve Mellon of Pittsburgh Union Progress. But this story is not over, and the work is not done until the people of East Palestine get justice.
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Good company: The @pghguild.com strike paper's @stevemellon412.bsky.social will share this year's Izzy Award with fellow independent journalist @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social as well as @jewishcurrents.bsky.social and @sfpublicpress.bsky.social: www.unionprogress.com/2025/04/07/i...
unionprogress.com
Izzy honored? Yes, our Steve Mellon is, with a prestigious independent journalism award - Pittsburgh Union Progress
The Pittsburgh Union Progress’ Steve Mellon has for more than two years been covering the story of the derailment and burnout and then the fallout from the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, wi...
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The Real News Network @therealnews.com · 09/04/2025
BIG NEWS: We just won an Izzy alongside @stevemellon412.bsky.social for our coverage of the aftermath of the Norfolk-Southern train derailment in East Palestine, OH. therealnews.com/trnn-wins-20...
therealnews.com
TRNN wins 2025 Izzy Award for coverage of East Palestine, OH, trainwreck & chemical disaster
TRNN is honored to share this prestigious award with Steve Mellon of Pittsburgh Union Progress. But this story is not over, and the work is not done until the people of East Palestine get justice.
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Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
One person at the rally for gender-affirming care tells @pghguild.com strike paper's @stevemellon412.bsky.social, “We are facing a federal government that is doing everything, everything in its power to deny us our humanity, erase us from history and existence." www.unionprogress.com/2025/04/04/u...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
"Empathy is out of vogue," writes the @pghguild.com strike paper's @stevemellon412.bsky.social. But he demonstrates plenty of empathy for people such as two friends of his who share what it feels like right now to have your very life depend on Medicaid: www.unionprogress.com/2025/03/11/w...
unionprogress.com
Waiting for news of the GOP's Medicaid cuts is like 'staring down the barrel of a shotgun' - Pittsburgh Union Progress
Here’s a moral dilemma we should present to every Sunday school class in America: You’re facing pressure from your wealthy boss to provide tax relief for people who can afford fleets of private jets, ...
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Bob Batz Jr. @bobbatzjr.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Tossed onto your stoop with fingers crossed, it's the Sunday Pittsburgh Union Progress, made by workers including @stevemellon412.bsky.social & @johnnysantapup.bsky.social. We also have an opinion piece by @repjess.com, who's pushing to fix the state's home care crisis. Read at www.unionprogress.com
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh @pghguild.com · 22/01/2025
“Still in limbo” was the refrain after another day of testimony in the three production union case for 10J injunctive relief. @stevemellon412.bsky.social has more for the Union Progress.
unionprogress.com
Control over work life is focus of strike hearing that is anything but 'lickety-split' - Pittsburgh Union Progress
After more than three hours of testimony in a federal courtroom in Pittsburgh Tuesday, the judge called an end to the proceeding. As is customary, everyone stood while she walked out. Members of the m...
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
The Real News Network @therealnews.com · 20/12/2024
“Toxicant-induced loss of tolerance” may be an underlying cause of the wide range of symptoms experienced by residents of East Palestine.
therealnews.com
From brain fog to nosebleeds: There’s a name for what’s happening to people affected by derailment
"Toxicant-induced loss of tolerance" may be an underlying cause of the wide range of symptoms experienced by residents of East Palestine.
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Reposted by Steve Mellon
Maximillian Alvarez @maximillianalvarez.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
It is this exact kind of corporate/Wall St. greed that blew up the lives of working-class residents in/around East Palestine. Watch this report I did on the ground in EP @therealnews.com before the election. Listen to what this company has put these people through: therealnews.com/trainwreck-i...
therealnews.com
Trainwreck in ‘Trump Country’: Partisan politics hasn’t helped East Palestine, OH (DOCUMENTARY)
After a catastrophic train derailment changed residents' lives forever, politicians used East Palestine, OH, to help themselves, but they have done nothing to help East Palestine.
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