Faculty union rally seeks movement on compensation issues

By MARTY LEVINE

A rally outside and inside the site of the latest faculty union bargaining session with Pitt’s administration — on April 18 at Posvar Hall — drew more than 100 union supporters hoping to influence the negotiations, in particular any agreement on compensation and job security.

“We really want to see the administration move toward agreement on some of the issues that are really important to faculty,” said part-time English faculty member Lech Harris, secretary of the bargaining committee. A proposal on those central issues — like a $60,000 base salary for full-time faculty — was submitted in November, he said, and “we haven’t gotten a response on that yet.”

Asked whether the administration might be delaying to wear the union down, Harris said: “I’m not sure what their motive is and in a way I don’t care. I just want them to … listen. We want to work with them as partners. This is about making Pitt a better place to work. … It’s going to strengthen the institution and help us retain the talent we need.”

Carrying signs that read “Fair Pay = Emotional Well-Being” — a reference to the provost’s office annual theme, the “Year of Emotional Well-Being” — the group gathered below the Posvar stairs for photos as one marked and one unmarked Pitt Police car looked on.

“You ready for a fight?” one of the rally leaders asked through his bullhorn.

English adjunct faculty member Barbara Klein, on the union’s action committee, said: “We would like to see some real progress being made … and that ultimately we want the same things. We want what’s best for our students and that includes equity in pay and respect (for faculty). Ultimately, it impacts the students’ experiences if everyone is invested in this University and makes it a great place.”

“It makes a powerful statement when people take the time out to show their support in person,” said Karen Goldman, faculty member in Hispanic Languages and Literatures, attending the rally without being on any union committee. “There’s a lot of ground to cover. … At this point. any improvement is significant to us. I think it’s time.”

Union bargaining committee chair Tyler Bickford, English faculty member, led the group inside, reminding them to be “chill” and joking about not wanting to go to jail. Inside were several uniformed and plainclothes police officers watching the crowd move upstairs to pass through the negotiating room. The group waited in an adjoining room for the administrative bargaining team to emerge and then walked back through the bargaining site, singing union anthem “Solidarity Forever,” with its chorus of “for the union makes us stronger” to the tune of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

Back outside, Harris spoke to the crowd about his experience arriving at Pitt from a position at Rutgers in 2020 and disbelieving that his pay was about half of his former institution. “This was my first object lesson” on the differences between a unionized and a non-unionized institution, he said.

Melinda Ciccocioppo, chair of the union’s Communication and Action Team, told the crowd before dispersal: “It’s things like this, showing up for actions like this, that get movement at the table. … Until we get a fair contract, we’ll be back.”

There has been no update by the administration on union negotiations since the last two rounds on April 17 and 18. The union update says that there was “a very strong tentative agreement on Discipline and Discharge that will create powerful new protections for all of us as well as an agreement regarding maintenance and access to personnel files” at those last sessions, but mentions nothing about progress on compensation and job security.

Marty Levine is a staff writer for the University Times. Reach him at martyl@pitt.edu or 412-758-4859.

 

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