Pitt graduate student workers to vote next month on whether to unionize

Graduate student workers at the University of Pittsburgh will vote in a state-supervised election next month on whether to join the United Steelworkers, the union already representing faulty and staff there.

The election Nov. 18, 19 and 21 involves 2,000 teaching, research and other graduate assistants. It will be overseen by the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, which authorized the election after the Pitt Graduate Workers Union garnered the necessary number of cards indicating support for the drive.

It is the second bid in five years by Pitt grad workers to unionize. An earlier election in 2019 left workers 39 votes shy of securing Steelworkers representation.

As with the earlier effort, organizers cite as objectives gaining a greater voice in working conditions. Specifically, they want “the ability to negotiate over vital issues like funding security, stipend increases, protections against discrimination and harassment, improved family benefits, a voice in hours and conditions of work and affordable health insurance,” according to a news release from the Steelworkers.

“It’s been a long time coming, and we’re excited to vote, to win and to take our seats at the bargaining table,” said Lauren Wewer, a graduate worker in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. “Our work powers this university.”

Pitt posted a notice of election Friday to its website created to offer information regarding the campaign. As with other campaigns, the university’s leaders have said they respect the the union election process.

In-person voting will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day in the O’Hara Student Center on Pitt’s main campus in Oakland. The PLRB will count the votes at their office in Pittsburgh on Nov. 22.

In September, about 6,300 employees on the University of Pittsburgh’s main and branch campuses gained Steelworkers representation and will now seek to secure their first collective bargaining agreement.

The Steelworkers needed a majority plus one vote to prevail in that election. Union organizers did not provide a specific vote breakdown, but, in a statement, said “a strong majority voted in favor of joining the union.”

In May, about 3,500 University of Pittsburgh faculty represented by the United Steelworkers ratified their first contract with Pitt. It includes a $60,000 salary floor for full-time professors, yearly raises and enhanced job protections.

Pitt enrolls about 35,000 students, making it Western Pennsylvania’s largest university.