More than 2,000 graduate workers are eligible to vote in an election this month on whether to be represented by the United Steelworkers union.
Voting will take place in person from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 18, 19 and 21 in the second floor ballroom of the O’Hara Student Center in Oakland. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board will count the votes on Nov. 22 at their office in Pittsburgh.
The vote will be decided by a majority of those who cast ballots. If only 100 people vote, the side with 51 or more votes will win.
All teaching assistants, teaching fellows, graduate student researchers and graduate student assistants are eligible to be in the union. Unfunded grad students, grads on external fellowships, and grads on training grants are ineligible because they are not directly employed by the University.
Pitt graduate workers last tried to organize starting in 2017. An election was held in April 2019, and union organizers fell short of the majority needed by 37 votes. The union later claimed that the University used unfair labor practices during the election. The PLRB ultimately decided nearly two years later that these practices did not sway the election outcome.
Staff union
Nominations closed Oct. 31 for those who will represent the Staff Union of Pitt at the bargaining table.
Each person who was nominated will be contacted to see if they will accept the nomination. After all of the nominations have been accepted, the candidate's information will be posted on the union website. Elections for the bargaining committee will be conducted via digital ballot.
The bargaining committee will be made up of at least 10 staff from across the University and will work closely with USW District 10 Director Bernie Hall, who will chair the committee, and other technical experts from the United Steelworkers.
Staff voted in September to be represented by the USW. There are two bargaining units — one with about 5,000 professional workers and the other has about 1,300 nonprofessional staff — but the union plans to bargain for them together. The union has said it hopes that bargaining can begin in December.
— Susan Jones
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