BARGAINING UPDATE
June 16, 2023
Takeaways:
Dear colleagues,
First, remember to become a member!
We met with the administration on Wednesday and had a productive bargaining session. In the morning the administration presented counterproposals addressing job security for full- and part-time non-tenure stream faculty. We reviewed those and presented counters in the afternoon. While we remain apart on a few key issues, we are making significant progress aligning most of the language in these complex and important articles. Both sides agree on an approach that would transform the renewal process for full- and part-time non-tenure stream faculty and increase appointment lengths for the vast majority of faculty. This new approach includes “presumptive renewal”: a requirement that, except for certain specified reasons, all full- and part-time non-tenure stream faculty who have completed a short probationary period will have their appointments renewed automatically on a continuing basis. The key sticking point, as you might expect, is the list of valid reasons for nonrenewal. While we appear to have common ground in principle, the administration’s proposals include vague language that raises concerns. We are pushing them to agree to more precise wording.
Job security is the top non-economic priority you reported in the bargaining survey, and we are pleased to be making good progress. We also presented a counterproposal on workloads, another important priority where we see increasing common ground with the administration.
Pay is another top priority for this contract. We still have not received a counter on the compensation proposal we presented to the administration last fall, although the chair of the Board of Trustees recently acknowledged that our salaries are not keeping up with our peers.
It is likely that the administration will announce the annual raises for staff and faculty outside of the bargaining unit in July. That announcement will not include raises for faculty in the bargaining unit, so we will not know how much of a raise we will receive at that time. Unlike in the past, the administration cannot unilaterally make across-the-board changes to salaries in the bargaining unit. Instead they must negotiate this raise with our Union. We will negotiate our annual raises as part of our larger contract negotiations. This gives us power to push for higher raises, to lock in annual raises for multiple years in advance, and to negotiate salaries as part of our broader compensation package, which includes health insurance, retirement, and other benefits that impact our pocketbooks.
Our power comes from all of us. We are most likely to get a good raise in our contract if you demonstrate to the administration that fair pay is important to you. Right now the best way to show your support is by signing a Union membership card. You can get more information about membership and request to sign a card by visiting our website: pittfaculty.org.
In solidarity,
Your bargaining committee
Tyler Bickford (chair), Professor, English, Oakland
Nicholas Bircher, Part-time Professor, Nurse Anesthesia, Oakland
Lauren Collister, 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
Haitao Liu, Professor, Chemistry, Oakland
Megan O’Brien, Master Teacher, Falk Laboratory School, Oakland
Stephen Robar, Associate Professor, Political Science, Bradford
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!
- We met with the administration on Wednesday and had a productive exchange of proposals on job security for non-tenure stream faculty
- Our annual raises for the upcoming academic year will be negotiated as part of larger contract negotiations.
Dear colleagues,
First, remember to become a member!
We met with the administration on Wednesday and had a productive bargaining session. In the morning the administration presented counterproposals addressing job security for full- and part-time non-tenure stream faculty. We reviewed those and presented counters in the afternoon. While we remain apart on a few key issues, we are making significant progress aligning most of the language in these complex and important articles. Both sides agree on an approach that would transform the renewal process for full- and part-time non-tenure stream faculty and increase appointment lengths for the vast majority of faculty. This new approach includes “presumptive renewal”: a requirement that, except for certain specified reasons, all full- and part-time non-tenure stream faculty who have completed a short probationary period will have their appointments renewed automatically on a continuing basis. The key sticking point, as you might expect, is the list of valid reasons for nonrenewal. While we appear to have common ground in principle, the administration’s proposals include vague language that raises concerns. We are pushing them to agree to more precise wording.
Job security is the top non-economic priority you reported in the bargaining survey, and we are pleased to be making good progress. We also presented a counterproposal on workloads, another important priority where we see increasing common ground with the administration.
Pay is another top priority for this contract. We still have not received a counter on the compensation proposal we presented to the administration last fall, although the chair of the Board of Trustees recently acknowledged that our salaries are not keeping up with our peers.
It is likely that the administration will announce the annual raises for staff and faculty outside of the bargaining unit in July. That announcement will not include raises for faculty in the bargaining unit, so we will not know how much of a raise we will receive at that time. Unlike in the past, the administration cannot unilaterally make across-the-board changes to salaries in the bargaining unit. Instead they must negotiate this raise with our Union. We will negotiate our annual raises as part of our larger contract negotiations. This gives us power to push for higher raises, to lock in annual raises for multiple years in advance, and to negotiate salaries as part of our broader compensation package, which includes health insurance, retirement, and other benefits that impact our pocketbooks.
Our power comes from all of us. We are most likely to get a good raise in our contract if you demonstrate to the administration that fair pay is important to you. Right now the best way to show your support is by signing a Union membership card. You can get more information about membership and request to sign a card by visiting our website: pittfaculty.org.
In solidarity,
Your bargaining committee
Tyler Bickford (chair), Professor, English, Oakland
Nicholas Bircher, Part-time Professor, Nurse Anesthesia, Oakland
Lauren Collister, 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
Haitao Liu, Professor, Chemistry, Oakland
Megan O’Brien, Master Teacher, Falk Laboratory School, Oakland
Stephen Robar, Associate Professor, Political Science, Bradford
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
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