BARGAINING UPDATE
April 12, 2024
One paragraph left
Takeaways:
- We are in agreement on everything in the contract except one crucial paragraph.
- The administration wants unilateral discretion to cancel our raises if the state appropriation is reduced by as little as $7.5 million, or 0.25% of Pitt's $3 billion budget.
- The only thing Chancellor Gabel needs to do to complete this contract is to commit to implementing the policies both sides have already agreed to.
Dear colleagues,
Thank you to everyone who observed bargaining on Wednesday. It was so powerful to have you all in the room showing your support and it is a good reminder to Chancellor Gabel’s bargaining team that they are negotiating this contract with all of us!
After two years of bargaining we are inches away from a transformative first contract, which will include dramatic improvements across all aspects of our jobs, especially the two top priorities you sent us to address: job security and salaries for the lowest paid faculty.
But the last inch is the hardest. Right now the administration is demanding that Chancellor Gabel have the freedom to unilaterally cancel the raises we have negotiated if there are small declines in enrollments or in the Commonwealth appropriation. Once again, after extended negotiations in which both sides made moves towards one another and worked hard to come to an agreement, Chancellor Gabel is trying to get out of actually being bound by that agreement. The administration did the same thing with presumptive renewal, they did it with our grievance procedure, and they did it with layoffs, but each time we persevered. Now they are doing it again with pay. It’s tiresome!
If there is a budget crisis, our Union will absolutely work with Chancellor Gabel to address its impact, and we have proposed language committing us to that. But every crisis is different, and our union exists to make sure faculty are fully included in such decisions when they impact us. We cannot agree in advance to unilateral across-the-board cuts to our hard-won salaries without any knowledge of the situation causing those cuts. And it should go without saying that Pitt is a large, stable institution with extensive reserves, that is certainly able to weather short-term disruptions—nothing we have agreed to would threaten Pitt’s solvency or ongoing operations.
No union contract at peer universities includes the terms Chancellor Gabel is demanding. It is not asking too much for Pitt to make a three-year agreement and honor it even if unforeseen events arise. Pitt does exactly that when it issues bonds, buys property, leases space, or contracts with suppliers. We are all committed to Pitt’s long-term success and we will all work together to deal with crises if they come. But Chancellor Gabel can’t reasonably expect us to be treated worse than Pitt’s bondholders or other counterparties.
While we await a counterproposal from the administration, we will be working with leaders in the Steelworkers, with our elected allies, and most importantly with you. Look for communications soon from your Communication and Action Team about what you can do to help bring this contract home.
Just one paragraph to go.
In solidarity,
Your bargaining committee
Tyler Bickford (chair), Professor, English, Oakland
Pete Bell, Teaching Assistant Professor, Chemistry, Oakland
Nicholas Bircher, Part-time Professor, Nurse Anesthesia, Oakland
Chloe Dufour, Faculty Librarian, ULS, Oakland
Anthony Fabio, Associate Professor, Epidemiology (Public Health), Oakland
Lech Harris (secretary), Part-time Instructor, English, Oakland
James Hill (archivist), Visiting Assistant Professor, History, Oakland
Megan O’Brien, Master Teacher, Falk Laboratory School, Oakland
Sabrina Robinson, Part-time Instructor, Slavic, Oakland
Evan Schneider, Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy, Oakland
Paul Scott, Assistant Professor, Health and Community Systems (Nursing), Oakland
Jeffrey Shook, Professor, Social Work, Oakland
Stacey Triplette, Associate Professor, Spanish, Greensburg
Abagael West, Teaching Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, Oakland
Links!
- If someone forwarded this to you, sign up to receive these emails
- Find previous bargaining updates here
- Status of bargaining
- Get in touch with your Council rep
- Get involved with the Communication and Action Team
- Sign a union membership card
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