Pitt negotiating contract with service workers

Pitt’s contract with its service workers expired Dec. 31, 2005.

Local 3 of the Service… Pitt’s contract with its service workers expired Dec. 31, 2005.

Local 3 of the Service Employees International Union – which represents 360 cleaners, movers, groundskeepers, pool operators, mechanics, receivers and autoclave operators at Pitt – is currently negotiating a new contract.

The SEIU is the largest and fastest growing union in North America, with more than 1.8 million workers and 50,000 retirees throughout the continent.

The contract between Pitt and the SEIU Local 3 was last renewed in January of 2003. Typically, each contract is renewed about every two years. In 2003, however, the negotiations led to demonstrations Downtown and even some arrests.

The parties finally reached a settlement.

At Harvard College and the University of Pennsylvania, students have formed coalitions to fight for increased wages for service workers. Harvard ended up increasing wages for janitors from $6.50 per hour in 1999 to between $13 and $14 in 2005.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele – speaking for Assistant Vice Chancellor for Employee/Labor Relations John Greeno, Pitt’s chief negotiator – said that, though he may not comment on the specific issues being discussed, the process of negotiations is going quite smoothly.

Tom Hoffman, communications director for Local 3, added, “There are no real problems with the current contract, it’s just that after three years we need to make some adjustments.”

Greeno and Hoffman each said that the negotiations are going extremely well. The old contract worked on more than 40 provisions, including wages, wage structure, benefits, seniority, bidding rights, hours and other issues.

“We are in the early stages of negotiations and have at least three more meetings scheduled for January,” Hoffman said.

Neither side mentioned any concern for a repeat of the tribulations involved in the 2003 contract.

“Both sides are really working closely to reach a good settlement toward the best possible contract,” Hoffman said.