By SUSAN JONES

Members of the Pitt staff union bargaining unit have less than two weeks to return ballots to the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, in a vote that will determine if the United Steelworkers will represent 6,300 full-time and regular part-time professional and non-professional University staff.

The ballots, which were mailed out on Aug. 15, must be received in the PLRB’s Harrisburg office no later than 5 p.m. Sept. 19.

By now, staff who are included in the bargaining unit should have received a ballot at the home address that’s on file with the University. If you are on the list and have not received a ballot, email a request for ballot to the PLRB election officers at katowens@pa.gov or jgralewski@pa.gov. You also can leave a voicemail at 717-787-1091 or 412-565-5318. 

The ballot itself is causing some confusion among staff — largely because of the division of workers into professional (approximately 5,000 people) and nonprofessional (around 1,300).

State code says that only those on the professional list will get to vote on whether the professional and nonprofessional employees should be one bargaining unit or two separate ones.

Those designated as professionals — someone with a four-year degree that they regularly use in their job, according to the state — will chose between:  

• “I choose to be included in a unit of professional and nonprofessional employees.”

• “I choose not to be included in a unit of professional and nonprofessional employees.”

The ballots then have two other questions for both professional and nonprofessional staff.

The first question is to vote for the combined unit to be represented by the USW or to have no representation. The results of this question would be used if the majority of professional employees vote for the combined bargaining unit.

If the professional employees vote not to have a combined unit, then the second question would determine if the two units want to be represented separately by the USW. In this case, the one side could vote to unionize and the other could reject the union.

Neither of these are straight yes/no questions. For instance, question 2 says: “In the event a majority of professional employee vote not to be included in a combined professional and nonprofessional unit,” then voters choose between the USW, which is listed on the ballot under its full official name — United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC — and No Representative.

Counting of the ballots will begin at 10 a.m. Sept. 25. Depending on the number of ballots returned, counting may continue through Sept. 26 and 27. The results will be determined by a simple majority of those who vote, so if only 2,000 people vote, the side getting more than 1,000 will win. Both union organizers and the University are urging everyone to vote.

This latest staff unionization effort started in 2021, but really picked up steam in fall 2022. Union organizers filed cards with the PLRB in June 2023 seeking an election.

The USW also has organized around 3,500 Pitt faculty, who voted to join the union in 2021 and approved their first contract in May. In February, graduate student workers filed for a union election, also to be represented by the USW, and are awaiting a decision from the PLRB.

Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.

Have a story idea or news to share? Share it with the University Times.

Follow the University Times on Twitter and Facebook.