A robust majority of Pitt grad workers have signed USW union authorization cards, and we have filed for a union election with the state labor board!
The state labor board is planning to conduct a union vote this academic year for every GSR, GSA, TA, and TF at Pitt. The vote will be conducted by mail. Every ballot will remain anonymous. When we win our union, we will win the right to negotiate with Pitt’s administration over our stipends, our benefits, and our working conditions.
Right now, Pitt’s administration decides our pay, benefits, and the policies that determine the hours and conditions of our work.
They change our co-pays and premiums, our parental leave, and our workplace policies without consulting us – and without notice.
We are organizing our union to win the right to negotiate with Pitt’s administration. We know best what we need from the university in order to do the best research and provide the best education that we can.
Instead of begging university administrators to consider our individual hardships and needs, our grad workers’ union will meet with our employer as equals and negotiate a contract that reflects grad worker priorities.
After we win, we’ll elect a bargaining committee from amongst our fellow grad workers.
With some legal guidance and expertise from the USW, our bargaining committee will sit down with Pitt’s administration and representatives, and will negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that reflects grad worker priorities. We’ll all get to review the agreement and democratically vote to ratify it before it takes effect. The agreement will be mutually binding: the administration will have to abide by the rules and protections we negotiate!
