By SUSAN JONES
On Nov. 25, Pitt’s administration presented a proposal to the staff union that would give bargaining unit employees — who performed at a successful level or higher during fiscal year 2025 — a 2.5% raise, retroactive to Nov. 1. The union’s bargaining committee is currently reviewing the proposal.
Pitt’s 2025-26 budget, passed by the Board of Trustees in July, included 2.5% across-the-board, performance-based maintenance salary increases for all faculty and staff who are not represented by a union. These raises were received in September and were retroactive to July 1. Raises for unionized faculty are dictated by the collective bargaining agreement reached last year.
The Pitt Staff Union, which is represented by the United Steelworkers and is negotiating its first contract, previously rejected a proposal for bargaining unit staff to get 2.5% raises along with the higher health care costs that non-union staff have for 2025-26.
The union countered with a proposal for a 12.5% raise for bargaining unit staff, which the University rejected. Pitt said the union’s proposal “far exceeded increases for any employee group, and at a time when the University has been clear in the need for fiscal responsibility, especially in the face of headwinds on higher education. We are committed to paying our staff fairly while also being good stewards of our resources.”
Consequently, staff in the bargaining unit have not received raises for the 2025-26 fiscal year, and health care costs are unchanged from last fiscal year.
The current proposal from the University only deals with wage increases and does not include the higher health care costs, according to a University spokesman.
Jen Goeckeler-Fried, Pitt Staff Union bargaining committee chair and Brodsky Lab manager in the Department of Biological Sciences, responded to the wage increase proposal with a statement: “We believe that this is good progress, and is the direct result of members expressing their frustration to the administration over their withholding of raises. The bargaining committee is currently reviewing the proposal, and we are waiting for the administration to respond to our request for information regarding some staff members’ eligibility for the raise.
“We know that many staff members are struggling and these well-deserved raises would provide some welcome relief, so we hope that we receive this information soon. Of course, we also want to make it very clear to our members that even if we accept this 2.5% raise now, we will continue to fight for larger pay increases as part of the ongoing contract negotiations.”
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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