May 22, 2025

Key Takeaways:  

• We presented proposals covering appointments, work hours, and public safety.

• We presented a counter proposal for our grievance and arbitration article.

• The administration has rejected our proposals for inclusive work environment and academic freedom, and significantly stripped our proposal regarding grad workers’ professional rights.

Dear fellow grad workers,

During our bargaining session on May 21st, we presented three new proposals covering appointment security, work hours, and public safety. Our appointments proposal establishes timelines for reappointment notices, protections for grad workers whose appointments are cancelled, and requirements for appointment letters to ensure grads get all relevant information, including guaranteed years of funding. In our hours of work proposal, we set limits on obligatory work hours and ensured that all aspects of our work are to be included in those hours. Our public safety proposal covers data security, preventing the administration from voluntarily sharing our information to external parties without our consent. It also ensures grad workers can safely access work facilities, and prevents armed individuals from entering our workplaces. We also offered a counter proposal to the admin’s counter to our grievance and arbitration proposal.

While we continue to push forward on new proposals and work to bargain with the administration over our labor rights, the administration has yet again dismissed or stripped several of our proposals establishing essential protections for grad workers. Today, they rejected our inclusive work environment proposal outright and did not offer a counter, stating that these protections did not need to be solidified in a contract. This proposal would ensure that grad workers with disabilities receive the accommodations we need in a timely manner and that we are free to express our gender identities. They also stripped our proposal regarding grad workers’ professional rights, removing protections relating to authorship and intellectual property, and removing several provisions relating to our working conditions.

Finally, the administration’s external counsel, Tom Smock, read a statement affirming that they do not believe that grad workers have academic freedom, because “all responsibility for all courses taught at the university rests with the faculty” and grad workers “are not experts” and “do not have the agency” to conduct independent research or teaching. They also refused outright to provide these statements in writing. We are outraged by this belligerent and inexcusable refusal to acknowledge the work grads do to keep this university running or protect us while we do that work. We will continue to update you as things progress, and ask that you, our union, prepare for action in the coming weeks should the university continue to refuse to engage with us over these issues.

To clarify the language we have proposed and what the university opposes we have also created a bargaining tracker for everyone to view: PGWU Bargaining Tracker. Should you have any questions about the tracker or anything else related to bargaining, reach out to us via email (below) or online, and keep an eye out for our organizing committee’s next bargaining town hall!

Remember, our union is only as strong as its membership! If you are a TA/TF/GSA/GSR or fellow, please sign your USW membership card online if you haven’t done so yet. The administration will NOT have access to your membership card information (including whether or not you signed one) until our first contract is ready for ratification. As always, if you experience any changes to your working conditions or if your department suggests that compensation is held up or unavailable due to the bargaining process, let us know. Ordinary compensation processes should continue, including supplemental pay, reimbursements, and travel support. Email pittgradunion@usw.org with as many details as possible!

In solidarity, 

Your bargaining committee 

Lauren Wewer, Chair (MEMS)  
Michaela Cushing-Daniels, Recording Secretary (SPIA)  
Keanna Cash (SOE)  
Greta Cheng (SPH)  
Aden Halpern (Economics)  
Alisa Omelchenko (SOM)  
Chi-Tsung Chang (English)  
Tori Bonidie (Physics & Astronomy)  
Hollen Tillman (SSW)
Matt Nader (USW)
Nate Kilbert (USW)
Don Shaffer (USW)