Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Wrongly Laid Off Employees Promised Work

The Pittsburgh Post–Gazette violated federal labor law by laying off two employees who were guaranteed work under an expired union contract, a divided National Labor Relations Board ruled.

The NLRB’s 3-2 decision Wednesday rejected arguments by the Post-Gazette—and the agency’s Trump-era general counsel—that it should overrule board precedent on an employer’s duty to maintain the terms of a lapsed collective bargaining agreement while negotiating a new deal.

The ruling keeps in place union-friendly case law limiting employers’ ability to act unilaterally after a collective bargaining agreement expires. Restrictions on companies’ latitude to make changes to things like benefits and working ...