Pitt graduate student workers gathered for a rally and march Tuesday to urge a response from the University regarding their demands.
About 60 members of the Pitt Graduate Workers Union held a rally on Oct. 27 outside and in Posvar Hall to compel the University back to the bargaining table. Their demands include better wages, stipends and improved healthcare coverage.
In an opening speech, Alisa Omelchenko, a fifth-year computational biology graduate student and member of the bargaining committee, said the union has been engaged in active bargaining for the last two years. The union hasn’t received a counter-proposal for the economic proposal they submitted two months ago, Omelchenko said.
“We have shown up, and we have put proposals on the table. We are ready to bargain. So where’s Pitt?” Omelchenko said into her megaphone in front of the crowd. Omelchenko also accused Pitt of undermining the union.
“From bullying graduate workers for talking about the union to delaying our union election, this administration has repeatedly stood in the way of graduate workers fighting for their rights,” Omelchenko said.
After each of Omelchenko’s condemnations, the crowd chanted, “Shame! Shame!”
Pitt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lực Ta, a second-year graduate student in the math department and union member, condemned the University’s hesitancy to reciprocate in the bargaining process and made clear the rally’s purpose to spur their counterparts into action.
“We’re here to show the administration we mean business. We’re here to show them they can’t hide,” Ta said.
During their march in and through Posvar, the crowd shouted chants affirming the solidarity of their union, including “Our union, united, will never be divided!” and others calling out specific University staff members in “Gabel, Gabel, get your ass to the table!” and “Bob Parker, you can’t hide, we can see your greedy side!”
The march followed Ta’s direction, drawing the eyes and ears of those in Posvar and the presence of two police officers. The crowd regrouped outside the South Bouquet entrance and closed the rally by singing the 1915 trade union anthem “Solidarity Forever.”
Ernest Wallace, a fifth-year physics and astronomy graduate student and member of the bargaining committee, summarized the union’s demands as looking for fair compensation, benefits and protections in the workplace. Wallace reiterated the rally’s purpose to bring the University’s attention back to the bargaining table after two months without a response.
“It’s up to them to come back to us, but we had a strong turnout today. We’ve shown them that we have a bunch of support on our side, and we have a strong motivation,” Wallace said.
Ramakrishna Suresh, a fifth-year chemical engineering PhD student, cited changes in health insurance benefits as one of his key issues. Suresh said at the beginning of the 2023 fall semester, the health insurance plan offered to grad workers was reduced in scope of coverage, leading to higher costs for himself and others.
“A lot of the basic visits and stuff like that are now six to seven times more expensive. I know a lot of people who were in the middle of the treatment — I was also in the middle of the one — and suddenly […] this is what it costs now. I had to stop my treatment abruptly. That was one of the big things that pushed a lot of people [to participate in the union],” Suresh said.
After the march, Ta repeated the union’s demands for the University to respond to proposals including stipends and healthcare, and criticized their deficiencies in the bargaining process.
“The administration is not coming to sessions prepared, we’re not working as frequently as we would like,” Ta said. “Often, the administration does not have counterproposals prepared to be discussed during their sessions. We’ve seen these stalling tactics before from the administration when it took them months to book a room for us to have our union election back in 2024.”
Ta said the last meeting took place last February and cited the online bargaining tracker as a useful tool to keep up with the progress of the negotiations.
“No more delays! No more excuses! Graduate workers deserve a solution!” the crowd chanted during their march through Posvar Hall.