By SUSAN JONES

Pitt staff who are in the bargaining unit represented by the United Steelworkers will be getting 2.5% salary increases, retroactive to Aug. 1, 2025, starting with their paycheck in January 2026, after the union and the University reached a memorandum of understanding this week.

The increase will be paid on Jan. 23 for biweekly paid employees, and on Jan. 30 for monthly paid employees. Employees on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), provisional period or leave of absence on July 1, 2025, will receive the wage increase effective on the date they complete the PIP, the provisional period, or return from the leave of absence, or August 1, 2025, whichever is later.

Grad worker union

A separate memorandum of understanding was reached between the Pitt Grad Union and the University that will increase all stipends for TAs/TFs/GSAs and GSR appointments by 2.5%, retroactive to Sept. 1, 2025. The raises will be paid in the January 2026 payroll. Find more details on the Pitt Grad Union and the University’s graduate student unionization websites

“We are very pleased that we could come to an agreement on interim raises for represented staff,” said Jen Goeckeler-Fried, Pitt Staff Union bargaining committee chair. “We also want to make it very clear that we do not think that 2.5% is enough, and we will keep fighting for additional salary increases. Our Staff Union motto is ‘We make Pitt work’ and we deserve fair pay for the incredibly important work that we do.”

The University said on its staff unionization information website that it is “grateful for the significant contributions of our staff to our community and in support of our mission.”

The deal also includes access to the new Recreation and Wellness Center at the same fee level that was made available to non-represented staff on Nov. 1 —  $35 monthly for employees earning less than $50,000 annually and $45 for those making $50,000 or more. Goeckeler-Fried said they wanted to make sure bargaining unit members had access to the rec center as negotiations continue, but, “We still intend to bargain over these fees as part of the ongoing negotiations.”

Non-represented staff got the same 2.5% raise in September, but retroactive to July 1, 2025 — the beginning of Pitt’s fiscal year. The University initially proposed that staff represented by the USW get the same wage increase effective July 1, but it would have included the higher health insurance costs that non-represented staff are now paying.

The union rejected that proposal and instead asked 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.”

On Nov. 25, the University proposed 2.5% raises, but only retroactive to Nov. 1. Further negotiations led to the current agreement, which does not include the higher health insurance costs that non-represented staff are paying this fiscal year.

The University said making the raises retroactive to Aug. 1, 2025, instead of July 1, will “offset the increase in healthcare costs and premiums that were already implemented for non-represented employees but not passed on to bargaining unit employees.”

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

 

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