Pitt faculty unionization vote slated, Pitt says
The University of Pittsburgh’s faculty members will be able to vote starting next month on whether they want the United Steelworkers to represent them in contract negotiations.
The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board decided the secret-ballot vote for about 3,000 employees will be conducted from Aug. 27 to Oct. 12, the USW said.
The ballots will be counted by the state labor relations board on Oct. 19, said Sarah DeSantis, a labor and industry spokesperson.
The University of Pittsburgh has always been clear “that the question of faculty unionization is a faculty decision, and we will continue to keep all community members updated about the process,” said Pitt spokesman Kevin Zwick.
The Pittsburgh-based union’s efforts to unionize Pitt faculty dates back to 2016.
A state hearing examiner ruled in June 2020 the university artificially inflated the number of faculty employees eligible for union representations, which the USW claimed it was done to block the unionization campaign. In April, the labor relations board ordered Pitt to submit a list of union-eligible employees.
The USW also has conducted a campaign to unionize full-time and part-time graduate students and teaching assistants. The USW had challenged a representation election that it narrowly lost in April 2019. The union filed unfair labor practice charges against Pitt, claiming it notified graduate assistants before the election that it had notified the employees their stipends would be frozen during any contract negotiations.
USW spokesman R.J. Hufnagel could not be reached for comment.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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