Key Takeaways

• We approved an interim agreement to ensure that staff can receive the promotions, raises, and supplemental pay that have been promised to them!

• We have tentative agreements on seven of the eight proposals that we submitted to the administration during the previous session. This is a key first step in the bargaining process that will eventually lead to our first contract.

On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, your bargaining team had a very productive bargaining session with the administration, during which we approved an interim agreement that will allow resolution on the "status quo" issues that staff have been facing, including raises, promotions, supplemental pay, and staff-initiated changes to FTE.

During the previous session, we presented eight proposals and we're happy to report that the administration agreed to seven of these! These tentative agreements (and many others) will form the legal framework and the body of our first contract, pending ratification by the membership. Importantly, one of these tentative agreements states that staff cannot be disciplined or discharged without just cause.  

Additionally, we presented 5 new proposals to the administration that will define our union rights and establish a labor-management committee that will meet periodically to discuss and resolve issues. We also seek to outline a collaborative approach to shared governance with Staff Council, and to provide clear limitations on circumstances during which staff layoffs can occur and put procedures in place to help staff who face potential layoffs with job placement.

While the process of building our contract will take at least several more months, we are excited to share these early successes with you. We appreciate your support and the feedback we’ve received, especially through the bargaining survey. The deadline for submitting your survey responses is Friday, Jan 24. If you haven’t already, let us know what matters most to you by filling out your survey today.

Your bargaining committee,

Bernie Hall, Director USW District 10
Kearsten Adams, Academic Advising, UPG 
Shawn Alfonso Wells, Pitt Global Experiences, UCIS
Mark Brown, Secretary, Cell Biology, SOM
Lydia Chmill, Disability Resources & Services, OTC
Emily Daller, University Child Development Center, OHR  
Kelly Gilliam, Philanthropic & Alumni Engagement
Jen Goeckeler-Fried, Chair, Biological Sciences, DSAS
Jay Hornack, Law
Adriana Maguiña-Ugarte, Anthropology, DSAS
Dawn Miller, Academic Affairs, UPJ  
Michelle Utz-Kiley, Epidemiology, SPH
Matt Nader, USW District 10
Robin Sowards, USW District 10