April 1, 2025

Key Takeaways

• We presented a new proposal on hours of work.

• We engaged in continued dialog with the administration about participation in shared governance.

• Despite our concerns about its value, a staff survey is being sent out by the administration this week.

We continued to negotiate our contract with the administration on Monday, March 31, 2025. Our new proposal on hours of work will hopefully begin to address the "job creep" that many staff experience, as well as the frequency with which non-exempt staff are being asked to work overtime, both of which we expect will increase under the current hiring freeze as positions that are vacated go unfilled.

We are close to an agreement on shared governance, which would include protecting the rights of bargaining unit staff to speak on all matters of university governance at all levels, identical to the rights of faculty members.

While the Union is not taking an official position regarding whether you choose to fill out the survey that the administration is sending out this week, staff members have been filling out these types of surveys for years. We are unaware of any meaningful improvements to staff life that have come from them.  This is why we're at the table bargaining, using the results of the survey that the Union sent back in December to inform our proposals, with the intent to create positive change for Pitt staff! 

Despite windy and chilly weather, many of us gathered in Schenley Plaza on March 20th to kick off our membership card signing campaign! As a reminder, no dues will be taken until we ratify a contract, but when the time comes, if you want to be able to vote on the contract and for your union officers, you'll need to be a member! Click here to sign your union membership card today!

In Solidarity,

Your bargaining committee