UNION OF PITT FACULTY
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    • JOB SECURITY = EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING
    • WHAT IS IN A CONTRACT? >
      • WEINGARTEN RIGHTS
      • DISCIPLINE AND DISCHARGE
      • GOVERNANCE
      • HEALTH AND SAFETY
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  • HOME
  • BARGAINING UPDATES
    • MAR 16 2023 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • FEB 27 2023 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • FEB 24 2023 - COMMUNICATION & ACTION TEAM (CAT) UPDATE
    • FEB 16 2023 - COMMUNICATION & ACTION TEAM (CAT) UPDATE
    • FEB 15 2023 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • FEB 9 2023 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • FEB 7 2023 - COMMUNICATION & ACTION TEAM (CAT) UPDATE
    • FEB 1 2023 - COMMUNICATION & ACTION TEAM (CAT) UPDATE
    • JAN 25 2023 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • JAN 13 2023 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • DEC 15 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • DEC 7 2022 - FACULTY ACTION UPDATE
    • NOV 18 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • OCT 28 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • OCT 14 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • SEPT 30 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • SEPT 8 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • AUG 10 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • JULY 22 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • JULY 5 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • MAY 31 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • MAY 12 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • APRIL 20 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • MAR 25 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
    • MAR 21 2022 - BARGAINING UPDATE
  • JOIN
    • EMAIL LIST
    • CAT
  • INFO
    • JOB SECURITY = EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING
    • WHAT IS IN A CONTRACT? >
      • WEINGARTEN RIGHTS
      • DISCIPLINE AND DISCHARGE
      • GOVERNANCE
      • HEALTH AND SAFETY
      • GRIEVANCE AND ARBITRATION
    • ELIGIBILITY FOR COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES FOR BARGAINING UNIT FACULTY
    • COVID-19 WORK ADJUSTMENTS FOR PITT FACULTY
    • COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES
    • BARGAINING COMMITTEE
    • BARGAINING BASICS
    • MISSION STATEMENT
    • PITT FACULTY TESTIMONIALS
    • OTHER UNIVERSITIES TESTIMONIALS
    • UNIV. OF OREGON SUPPORT LETTER
    • OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY SUPPORT LETTER

What is in a contract?

HEALTH AND SAFETY


Dear colleagues,

I’m Lauren Collister, a faculty librarian in the University Library System in the Office of Scholarly Communication, and I’m also a member of our bargaining committee.

Health and safety is a fairly straightforward part of the contract, and is important for all workplaces. This part of the contract helps us deal with known hazards to our safety in our work environment. In a university setting, this might be the most intensive for research labs and clinical spaces where chemical or biological materials are present, but these provisions are for all of us. We learned quite a bit about air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic, for example!

This article would cover the responsibility of the administration to provide a safe working environment, and the faculty members’ process and procedure for reporting any concerns about health and safety issues. The federal Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) does not apply to public employees, and Pennsylvania does not have its own equivalent law or agency for workers like us, which means that having a health and safety provision in our contract is an important priority.

Our proposal also includes provisions for training in relevant health and safety processes and procedures for a particular unit; for example, as a librarian, I might need training on how to protect myself and our materials from damage during an emergency, or how to safely handle older materials that may be in a variety of conditions.

Finally, our proposal includes regular meetings of the Labor Management Committee specially devoted to health and safety. This allows for regular discussions of issues that may be on the minds of the campus and our colleagues, or new developments in health and safety that our campus community should know about.

​In solidarity,
Lauren Collister, Faculty Librarian, ULS
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