The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board ruled in Pitt’s favor on Friday in an ongoing dispute stemming from the April 2019 election in which graduate students voted against unionization by roughly 40 votes.
The United Steelworkers union is calling on Pitt to “end its anti-union campaign” against the efforts by faculty and grad students to unionize at the University.
Pitt offered faculty a one-year tenure clock extension in March, and grad union organizers said they see a funding extension as equivalent assistance for them.
By Neena Hagen, Senior Staff Writer
• February 3, 2020
After months of hearings, appeals and legal disputes between Pitt and graduate student union organizers, Pat Healy, an organizer and Ph.D. student, said the road to a possible graduate student union has been “tiring.”
By Neena Hagen, Senior Staff Writer
• January 21, 2020
Since the graduate and faculty union campaigns launched in 2016, Pitt has paid more than $1.3 million to “union avoidance” legal giant Ballard Spahr — an average of $328,000 per year.
A “union avoidance” law firm continues to receive a large windfall of legal fees from Pitt, recently passing $1 million, according to University financial disclosure reports.
Student Government Board unanimously passed a resolution at its Tuesday night meeting calling on support for University labor and rights to organize without unlawful intrusion.
