Contact: Randa Ruge: (412) 562-6967, rruge@usw.org
R.J. Hufnagel: (412) 562-2450, rhufnagel@usw.org
PITTSBURGH (March 4) – The United Steelworkers (USW) today lauded the work of Pittsburgh City Council after the body’s nine members unanimously endorsed the efforts of non-tenure-track faculty members at local colleges to form unions and called upon higher education institutions in the Pittsburgh area to recognize and bargain with those unions in good faith.
In the spring of 2012, 76 adjunct faculty members in Duquesne’s McAnulty College voted overwhelmingly to join the Adjunct Faculty Association of the USW (AFA-USW). The university originally agreed to recognize the union but quickly changed its mind, claiming a religious exemption. Duquesne has since refused to recognize the union or bargain a contract.
Universities like Duquesne serve the public and receive public benefits and “are therefore obligated to meet the basic legal and moral standards of the Pittsburgh community,” the resolution reads in part. “Non-tenure-track faculty are paid at or below the federal poverty threshold.”
Council Member R. Daniel Lavelle, whose District 6 includes parts of the North Side, Oakland and the Hill District, as well as Downtown and Uptown, where Duquesne is located, sponsored the resolution. The AFA-USW also has begun organizing adjuncts at the city’s Point Park University.
“Strong, democratic industrial unions helped build the middle class in Pittsburgh and across the country, and they are a vital part of this city’s and this country’s future. We’re pleased that Pittsburgh’s leaders recognize this,” said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. “It’s long past time for Duquesne University to do what it should have done many months ago – recognize the union and bargain a fair contract.”
The USW is the largest industrial union in North America, representing workers in a range of industries including metals, mining, rubber, paper and forestry, oil refining, health care, security, hotels, higher education, and municipal governments and agencies.
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