“Status Quo”

Now that we have a union, Pitt needs to bring us into the process when it wants to make decisions that affect our employment. This is referred to as “status quo”.  

“Status quo” is a legal term that means the university can’t make certain types of changes on their own without consulting with our union. It gives us the right to negotiate over these changes. 

We use this right to address immediate issues while we’re still in the process of negotiating our full agreement. 

Interim Agreements

We’ve negotiated several “interim agreements” with the university to address key issues.  

Promotions, Raises and Supplemental Pay

On January 21, 2025, we signed an interim agreement with Pitt to clear a path for resolution of a number of important and urgent issues, including promotional pay increases, equity increases, and supplemental pay. We still have the right to negotiate over these issues in our contract, but wanted to make sure they were not held up during that process. 

Read the full agreement here.

2025 Raises and Rec Center Access 

On December 16, 2025 we reached an interim agreement with Pitt for 2025 raises and access to the Rec Center. 

Initially, last summer, Pitt offered 2.5% raises to staff along with significant increases to healthcare costs. It wasn’t a fair trade, so we countered their proposal and waited months for a reply. Finally, in December, we were able to secure the 2.5% raises retroactive to August 1 with NO increases to 2025 healthcare costs. We will negotiate future raises as part of our contract. 

During that time, Pitt illegally changed their rec center policy, eliminating the benefit for staff. We demanded to bargain this change, as is our right as a union. Ultimately, we were forced to file charges against Pitt at the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board for the violation of “status quo”. In this agreement, we secured access to the rec center for staff in the interim period while we continue to negotiate the contract. It’s a paid program with different tiers based on income. We still have the right to negotiate rec center access as part of the contract. 

Read the full agreement here.