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Faculty show support for unionization
MADELINE GAVATORTA | Staff Writer | January 23, 2018
Pitt News
Pitt News
Jennifer Lee, a senior English lecturer at Pitt for the last two decades, said it was luck and allies in the tenure faculty that got her the job she currently holds — and she remembers realizing how privileged she was compared to faculty who don’t have those benefits.
“My very good friend and colleague — who I worked with almost that whole 20 years, who did the same work that I did — had trouble getting promoted, had trouble rising to the same rank that I am even though we had done exactly the same work,” Lee said.
Lee spoke about her experiences at the faculty union’s Card Campaign Kickoff Monday, which took place from noon to 1 p.m. in the William Pitt Union Ballroom. Assistant professor Paul Johnson of the communication department said the union initiative was born in August 2015, a few months after the grad students had started organizing, and has since advanced.
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“My very good friend and colleague — who I worked with almost that whole 20 years, who did the same work that I did — had trouble getting promoted, had trouble rising to the same rank that I am even though we had done exactly the same work,” Lee said.
Lee spoke about her experiences at the faculty union’s Card Campaign Kickoff Monday, which took place from noon to 1 p.m. in the William Pitt Union Ballroom. Assistant professor Paul Johnson of the communication department said the union initiative was born in August 2015, a few months after the grad students had started organizing, and has since advanced.
Read more
United Steelworkers start drive to organize full- and part-time faculty at Pitt
Efforts to organize academic workers across the University of Pittsburgh are entering a new phase as the United Steelworkers begins an authorization card campaign covering some 4,000 full- and part-time faculty on the region’s largest campus.
Professors and other supporters plan to rally at noon Monday in the William Pitt Union ballroom to announce their drive to get faculty signatures on those cards, indicating they want the union to represent them.
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Professors and other supporters plan to rally at noon Monday in the William Pitt Union ballroom to announce their drive to get faculty signatures on those cards, indicating they want the union to represent them.
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United Steelworkers strikes adjunct faculty contract with Robert Morris
Jun 6, 2017, 1:15pm EDT Updated Jun 7, 2017, 8:57am EDT
by Stephen Caruso, Intern, Pittsburgh Business Times
United Steelworkers struck its latest victory Tuesday in its fight to unionize Pittsburgh’s professors.
In a release, the USW announced it had reached a contract agreement with Robert Morris University to cover its adjunct faculty — made up of about 430 part-time faculty.
The contract should increase the average total salary paid to adjuncts by 20 percent. For the lowest-paid adjunct — a teacher with a master’s and five years experience — their pay will increase by 29 percent by the end of the contract, from $2,100 for a three-credit course to $2,703 over the course of the three-year deal.
The deal also included provisions to increase sick leave and job security for adjuncts — such as preserving their workload from semester to semester.
USW International President Leo Gerard commended the university for striking the deal, and hoped the contract would lead to better outcomes for the university’s 5,199 students.
“Adjunct faculty are the backbone of higher education today, and we’re proud to have helped them win a level of security and respect far more appropriate to their calling as teachers and scholars,” Gerard said in a statement.
Read more at bizjournals.com
Jun 6, 2017, 1:15pm EDT Updated Jun 7, 2017, 8:57am EDT
by Stephen Caruso, Intern, Pittsburgh Business Times
United Steelworkers struck its latest victory Tuesday in its fight to unionize Pittsburgh’s professors.
In a release, the USW announced it had reached a contract agreement with Robert Morris University to cover its adjunct faculty — made up of about 430 part-time faculty.
The contract should increase the average total salary paid to adjuncts by 20 percent. For the lowest-paid adjunct — a teacher with a master’s and five years experience — their pay will increase by 29 percent by the end of the contract, from $2,100 for a three-credit course to $2,703 over the course of the three-year deal.
The deal also included provisions to increase sick leave and job security for adjuncts — such as preserving their workload from semester to semester.
USW International President Leo Gerard commended the university for striking the deal, and hoped the contract would lead to better outcomes for the university’s 5,199 students.
“Adjunct faculty are the backbone of higher education today, and we’re proud to have helped them win a level of security and respect far more appropriate to their calling as teachers and scholars,” Gerard said in a statement.
Read more at bizjournals.com
Duquesne, don’t appeal NLRB decision
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; post-gazette.com
April 18, 2017 12:00 AM
As a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law, I am ashamed of my alma mater for failing to recognize and collectively bargain with adjunct faculty at the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts (“Duquesne Must Now Recognize Adjunct Faculty Union,” April 12).
The law school tells prospective students that they “will be trained to a high degree of professional skill with a special sensitivity to ethical and moral concerns.” Duquesne had the opportunity to stop a five-year legal battle and show respect for the invaluable contributions of adjunct faculty members. They failed.
Duquesne is making the wrong legal decision to appeal the National Labor Relations Board ruling, and they are making the wrong ethical and moral decision. The NLRB has had jurisdiction over Duquesne since 1982, and should continue to exercise its jurisdiction. This lengthy legal fight has nothing to do with being a religious institution. It is an excuse for wanting to continue to pay adjuncts poverty wages.
Read more at post-gazette.com
April 18, 2017 12:00 AM
As a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law, I am ashamed of my alma mater for failing to recognize and collectively bargain with adjunct faculty at the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts (“Duquesne Must Now Recognize Adjunct Faculty Union,” April 12).
The law school tells prospective students that they “will be trained to a high degree of professional skill with a special sensitivity to ethical and moral concerns.” Duquesne had the opportunity to stop a five-year legal battle and show respect for the invaluable contributions of adjunct faculty members. They failed.
Duquesne is making the wrong legal decision to appeal the National Labor Relations Board ruling, and they are making the wrong ethical and moral decision. The NLRB has had jurisdiction over Duquesne since 1982, and should continue to exercise its jurisdiction. This lengthy legal fight has nothing to do with being a religious institution. It is an excuse for wanting to continue to pay adjuncts poverty wages.
Read more at post-gazette.com
Pa. state faculty strike highlights need for supportAfter months of disagreement and failed negotiations, the faculty of Pennsylvania’s 14 state-supported universities will go on strike starting today.
The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties President Kenneth Mash confirmed the unprecedented strike will likely go on after breaking down overnight concessions in the midst of a media blackout. The strike will bring a halt to the education of the state system’s 105,000 students, forcing professors to cancel classes and push back tests. But more importantly, it highlights the need for support among our faculty and value their work as educators. Read more at the Pitt News... N.B., the strike began on October 19 and ended on October 21. |
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Pitt unionization campaigns look forward to upcoming yearThough it’s been nearly a year since Pitt faculty and graduate students first whispered plans to form labor unions, both groups have yet to take the first formal step of sending out voting cards to see if forming a union is feasible.
But that’s because both campaigns are still continuing to spread the word about their efforts and garner faculty interest in the unions, a crucial step before sending the cards. Read more at the Pitt News... |
Labor groups celebrate unionization efforts at local collegesLabor organizers, university professors and college students gathered Monday afternoon in Schenley Park for a picnic hosted by United Steelworkers Local 3657, its organizational arm, Fight Back Pittsburgh, and United Students Against Sweatshops, Local 31.
Read more at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette... |
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Unionization Drive Launched
Assistant professor Campbell, graduate student employee Hillary Lazar and undergraduate Kai Pang expressed their support for union representation during the Jan. 26 news conference. Said Campbell: “We think our union can achieve four major goals for faculty and other workers in the Pitt community: fairness; job security; transparency; and workplace justice. “The purpose of this University is teaching and research. We, alongside our graduate employee colleagues, are the workers who fulfill this purpose." Read more at the University Times... |
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Pitt faculty and graduate student employees formally announced Tuesday morning their plans to start a campaign to form multiple labor unions.
Partnering with United Steelworkers, an organization that has helped Point Park University and Robert Morris University unionize, faculty and graduate student representatives announced at a press conference on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. that their campaign was officially underway. USW has been organizing two separate campaigns for the faculty and graduate employees at Pitt, but Tuesday marked the launch of both groups’ efforts. Read more at PittNews.com |
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Campaign to organize thousands of faculty, grad workers at Pitt underway
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USW to try to organize Pitt faculty, grad students
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