The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
The University of Pittsburgh's Daily Student Newspaper

The Pitt News
The Pitt Faculty Assembly meeting on Wednesday.

Faculty assembly talks faculty union criticisms, IPA policy

By Khushi Rai, Staff Writer • November 4, 2022
To Faculty Assembly Vice President Kristin Kanthak, the recent actions of the faculty union are “frustrating and embarrassing”.
Pitt Faculty Union flyers on a campus table.

Solidarity, serenity and slow negotiations: Faculty look back on year since unionization

By Jack Troy, Senior Staff Writer • October 28, 2022
The PLRB certified the Pitt faculty union’s landslide election victory one year ago as of Friday. Since then, faculty have changed from advisors in a shared governance system to legal equals in slow and, at times, publicly bitter contract talks with administration. The very existence of negotiations, however strained, gives Melinda Ciccocioppo “a real sense of serenity.”
Pitt faculty protest on the steps of Posvar Hall for a fair contract on Thursday afternoon.

Faculty union protests outside bargaining room, talks job security and fair contracts

By Punya Bhasin, News Editor • October 27, 2022
More than 150 faculty members showed up today, with signs and in song, on the steps of Posvar Hall to demand one thing — a fair contract.
Tyler Bickford, a professor in the English department, drops one of the first union cards at a kickoff event held by Pitt faculty union organizers in the William Pitt Union Ballroom in January 2018.

Pitt faculty union, administration reach deal on COVID-19 protocols

By Rebecca Johnson and Allison Radziwon • August 13, 2022
The United Steelworkers union reached a “memorandum of understanding” with Pitt regarding expanded health and safety protections for faculty, following allegations that the University didn’t consult the faculty union before removing its mask mandate in March.
Pitt Faculty Union flyers on campus table.

Pitt faculty union, administration dispute bargaining unit size

By Jack Troy, Senior Staff Writer • May 24, 2022
Nearly two months into contract negotiations between faculty union representatives and University officials, the union claims that Pitt seeks to unlawfully disqualify 600 members while failing to substantively engage in the bargaining process.
A Pitt student wears a mask.

Pitt faculty union, administration clash over lifting mask mandate

By Neena Hagen, Senior Staff Writer • March 26, 2022
The United Steelworkers union filed an unfair practices charge against Pitt on Friday, alleging that University administrators failed to consult faculty before announcing that campus buildings would go mask optional starting Monday, according to a Friday evening press release from the Steelworkers.
The Cathedral of Learning seen from Schenley Plaza.

Pitt faculty union elects bargaining committee, begins negotiating with administration

By Neena Hagen and Jack Troy • March 1, 2022
Four months after Pitt faculty voted overwhelmingly in favor of unionization, the union’s newly formed bargaining committee sat down alongside United Steelworkers representatives last Friday to negotiate with the administration for the first time.
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher.

Gallagher talks Omicron, spring semester in TPN interview

By Martha Layne and Jon Moss • January 25, 2022
Chancellor Patrick Gallagher spoke with The Pitt News for about 20 minutes on Tuesday about the Omicron COVID-19 variant, the recent faculty unionization vote and the college experience during a pandemic.
Pitt administration poured large sums of money into a “union avoidance” law firm, according to financial disclosures.

Pitt’s spending on ‘union avoidance’ law firm nears $3M

By Neena Hagen, Senior Staff Writer • January 11, 2022
University administrators continued to pay large sums of money to a “union avoidance” law firm, with total payouts approaching $3 million, according to financial disclosures.
Chris Bonneau, political science professor, in his office in Posvar Hall on Wednesday.

‘Won’t be a unified front’: Professors opposed to union reflect on vote

By Abby Cardilli, Staff Writer • December 10, 2021
After a multi-year effort to unionize, Pitt faculty voted in favor of creating a union, with 1,511 faculty members voting in favor and 612 against. Professors opposed to the union reflected on the vote and the upcoming push for a first contract with the University.
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