March 21, 2025

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• We tentatively agreed on two proposals for our first contract!  

• We presented three new contract proposals to the administration; one defining grad employees in the contract, one concerning academic freedom, and one establishing shared governance provisions. We expect to receive responses before or during the next bargaining session.   

• We proposed updated language for our interim agreement and are waiting for the administration's response.   

Dear fellow grad workers: 

During our bargaining session on March 21st, we reached tentative agreements on two of the proposals we had presented to Pitt on February 25th. The first was on our separability clause, which establishes part of our contract’s legal framework, and the second was the provision regarding dues deductions for union members after contract ratification.  

We also presented three new proposals to the administration: a recognition clause defining who will be covered by our contract, a shared governance proposal establishing certain protections for workers including those relating to speech about campus issues, and a proposal establishing academic freedom protections. 

We made progress on our other existing proposals (those governing personnel files and the preamble) but are still working towards tentative agreements on these matters. 

Finally, we are waiting for a response from the administration on an interim agreement regarding supplemental payments for grad workers. We will continue to push for an agreement on this important issue at our next bargaining session on April 1st (no, seriously).  

If you experience any changes to your working conditions, reach out to jebrown@usw.org with as many details as possible. Also, if you are currently a TA/TF/GSA/GSR or fellow, be sure to reach out to us about signing your USW membership card if you haven’t done that! 

In solidarity, 

Your bargaining committee