BARGAINING UPDATE
February 22, 2024
It’s time for Chancellor Gabel to decide to pay us fairly
Takeaways:
Dear colleagues,
Last year, Pitt’s administration paid the outside law firm Ogletree Deakins over $1.2 million to represent them at the bargaining table (2022-23 Stairs Report, vol 2, p 208). Ogletree is one of the largest anti-union law firms in the country, and is well-known for offering “union avoidance” services to employers. Three Ogletree lawyers make up half of Pitt’s bargaining team, which includes only one person from the university’s academic leadership. Ogletree lawyers are not part of the Pitt community, and they do not share our long-term investments in this institution. To them, bargaining is billable hours; to us, it’s our livelihoods on the line.
By contrast, earlier this month Chancellor Gabel told the Board of Trustees:
We want to be an employer of choice. We have tens of thousands of people who work here. We’re one of the largest employers in the region. And we want to make sure that everyone who works here—faculty, staff, everyone—has the appropriate amount of satisfaction, fulfillment, and optimism about showing up to work everyday. That they feel respected, that they see dignity in their role, that they see opportunity that is fairly and equitably distributed, and that they’re paid fairly. And we are I think doing a lot of really good things there but we have more work to do.
Chancellor Gabel’s presentation to the Board was specifically about turning values into actions. But her team’s current proposal is for raises of 4% this year and 2% in the next two years, which is woefully insufficient. At this moment she is the one person who can decide to conclude these negotiations by putting her words into action and directing her team to put salary increases on the table that keep up with inflation and raise the salary floor for all bargaining unit faculty members to $60,000.
This is a matter of equity. The lowest paid faculty at Pitt are disproportionately women. We all work hard for pay that does not keep up with the cost of living. Too many of us are not paid fairly, and we do not feel respect or dignity when Chancellor Gabel’s team demands that we work for as little as $40,000 per year, or for part-time faculty as little as $3,000 per class.
Chancellor Gabel can decide to continue using tuition and tax dollars to pay outside lawyers, or she can decide to invest in us—the people at Pitt who make this university great through our long-term commitment to our students, our research, our patients, and our community.
We met with the administration on Tuesday, and we exchanged proposals on Benefits, Leaves, and Management Rights. It is clear to us that there is a straightforward path to a final agreement, and the only major thing remaining is for Chancellor Gabel to decide that we are worth paying fairly.
If you haven’t done so yet, sign a union membership card and keep an eye out for information on upcoming actions in which we will show Chancellor Gabel and the public that we are united in our fight for fair pay for all faculty!
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!
- The administration did not present us with a counter to our compensation proposal at our last bargaining session.
- Pitt paid outside lawyers $1.2 million last year to lead their bargaining team instead of bargaining directly with us.
- Chancellor Gabel told the Board of Trustees that we should be “paid fairly.” It’s time for Chancellor Gabel to put her words into action and resolve these negotiations now.
- If you haven’t done so yet, sign a union membership card and keep an eye out for information on upcoming actions to show Chancellor Gabel and the public that we are united in our fight for fair pay
Dear colleagues,
Last year, Pitt’s administration paid the outside law firm Ogletree Deakins over $1.2 million to represent them at the bargaining table (2022-23 Stairs Report, vol 2, p 208). Ogletree is one of the largest anti-union law firms in the country, and is well-known for offering “union avoidance” services to employers. Three Ogletree lawyers make up half of Pitt’s bargaining team, which includes only one person from the university’s academic leadership. Ogletree lawyers are not part of the Pitt community, and they do not share our long-term investments in this institution. To them, bargaining is billable hours; to us, it’s our livelihoods on the line.
By contrast, earlier this month Chancellor Gabel told the Board of Trustees:
We want to be an employer of choice. We have tens of thousands of people who work here. We’re one of the largest employers in the region. And we want to make sure that everyone who works here—faculty, staff, everyone—has the appropriate amount of satisfaction, fulfillment, and optimism about showing up to work everyday. That they feel respected, that they see dignity in their role, that they see opportunity that is fairly and equitably distributed, and that they’re paid fairly. And we are I think doing a lot of really good things there but we have more work to do.
Chancellor Gabel’s presentation to the Board was specifically about turning values into actions. But her team’s current proposal is for raises of 4% this year and 2% in the next two years, which is woefully insufficient. At this moment she is the one person who can decide to conclude these negotiations by putting her words into action and directing her team to put salary increases on the table that keep up with inflation and raise the salary floor for all bargaining unit faculty members to $60,000.
This is a matter of equity. The lowest paid faculty at Pitt are disproportionately women. We all work hard for pay that does not keep up with the cost of living. Too many of us are not paid fairly, and we do not feel respect or dignity when Chancellor Gabel’s team demands that we work for as little as $40,000 per year, or for part-time faculty as little as $3,000 per class.
Chancellor Gabel can decide to continue using tuition and tax dollars to pay outside lawyers, or she can decide to invest in us—the people at Pitt who make this university great through our long-term commitment to our students, our research, our patients, and our community.
We met with the administration on Tuesday, and we exchanged proposals on Benefits, Leaves, and Management Rights. It is clear to us that there is a straightforward path to a final agreement, and the only major thing remaining is for Chancellor Gabel to decide that we are worth paying fairly.
If you haven’t done so yet, sign a union membership card and keep an eye out for information on upcoming actions in which we will show Chancellor Gabel and the public that we are united in our fight for fair pay for all faculty!
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!
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- 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