BARGAINING
UPDATES

January 13, 2026

Key Takeaways

• We reached a tentative agreement (TA) on our Positions proposal

• We continued discussions about a number of proposals, including Health and Safety, Seniority, Layoffs, Flexible Work Arrangements, Hours of Work, and Job Changes

We kicked off a new year of bargaining on January 13, 2026. We presented counterproposals on Health and Safety and Flexible Work Arrangements. We were happy to receive five counterproposals from the administration: Seniority, Layoffs, Hours of Work, Job Changes, and Positions. Lively, explanatory discussions followed.

In the afternoon, we presented our own counterproposals on Seniority and Layoffs. While the University's counters did contain some meaningful movement, we still disagree on a number of key points. For example, we think that if someone is hired as a temp initially, then is hired to do that same job permanently as a "regular" staff member, their years of service (seniority) should be calculated from when they started to do that job as a temp. The administration wants to exclude time spent as a temp from seniority calculations. We also believe that staff who are laid off should receive preferential re-hire and recall rights for two years following layoff, while the administration has offered only one year.

Additionally, we are pleased to report that we were able to come to a tentative agreement on Positions. This tentative agreement outlines the details that will be provided to staff members at the start of their employment, including information about their job classification and job description, salary or hourly rate, whether the position is full- or part-time, whether the position is suitable for a remote or hybrid work arrangement, and any other requirements for employment. This information helps to make job expectations clear. It could also be important to have when dealing with situations that may arise, including:

• determining eligibility for overtime payments if extra work is assigned

• when applying for or returning from medical leave

• when requesting a disability accommodation

• as evidence during disputes

This agreement will also allow us to request changes to the duration of our positions (e.g., you currently work all 12 months of the year but want to switch to working 9 months of the year), and it gives us 30 days' notice if the University wants to make changes to our job descriptions.

Finally, as a reminder, eligible staff should see the 2.5% raises reflected in our paychecks on January 23 for staff who are paid biweekly, and on January 30 for staff who are paid monthly. These raises will be retroactive to August 1, 2025. We will negotiate additional salary adjustments and raises as part of our contract. If you have any questions about this pay increase, or if you believe that it has been incorrectly calculated, please reach out to staffunionofpitt@usw.org

In solidarity,

Your bargaining committee

Jen Goeckeler-Fried, Chair, Biological Sciences, DSAS
Kearsten Adams, Recording Secretary, Academic Advising, UPG
Shawn Alfonso Wells, Pitt Global Experiences, UCIS
Lydia Chmill, Disability Resources & Services, OTC
Emily Daller, University Child Development Center, OHR
Jay Hornack, Law
Adriana Maguiña-Ugarte, Anthropology
Todd Shaffer, Office of Student Life, UPJ
Michelle Utz-Kiley, Epidemiology, SPH
Dan Wyszomierski, UPCI/NSABP
Matt Nader, USW
Nate Kilbert, USW
Don Shaffer, USW
Bernie Hall, District 10 Director, USW