Unionized Pitt faculty members protest pace of contract talks

About 200 University of Pittsburgh faculty members represented by the United Steelworkers rallied outside Friday’s board of trustees meeting to protest the pace of negotiations aimed at securing the union’s first labor pact there.

Chanting at times as they held up signs that read “Fair Pay = Emotional Well-Being,” the crowd filled a lobby inside the William Pitt Union, where the board was meeting, as well as a staircase and balcony overlooking the room.

Several campus police officers kept watch outside the meeting room doors, but the crowd was orderly. After about 45 minutes, officers told them they had to take their protest outside.

The Union of Pitt Faculty, part of the United Steelworkers, represents more than 3,000 full- and part-time faculty on the Oakland main campus and branches at Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown and Titusville.

They voted overwhelmingly to unionize in an election whose results were announced in October 2021.

But almost 15 months later, negotiations have not led to a contract.

Job security has been a sticking point. So have pay equity issues, including those involving gender and race.

Organizers are calling for a $60,000 pay floor annually for full-time instructors across the bargaining unit, prorated for those who are part-time.

The union’s proposal “presents our vision of fair pay for faculty, which includes professional wages, equal pay for equal work and cost of living adjustments that keep pace with inflation,” said Melinda Ciccocioppo, teaching associate professor in the Department of Psychology.

“We are calling on the board to tell the administration to pick up the pace of bargaining and specifically to present a counterproposal to our compensation proposal,” she added.

After the meeting, Pitt Chancellor Patrick Gallagher said he understands the union’s desire to call attention to the issues. But he defended the pace of the talks.

“I think we are all interested in making progress. I mean, this is our faculty, so it’s important to the university as well,” Gallagher said. “I certainly don’t agree that the university is stonewalling in any way.”

Sabrina Robinson said she makes $28,000 a year as an instructor in Pitt’s Slavic Languages and Literatures Department.

“I think that the students at this university and their parents would be shocked to hear what so many of their instructors make compared to what they pay in tuition,” said Robinson, a member of the union’s bargaining committee. “We cannot do our best job if we all need second jobs.”