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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County urging the administration at the University of Pittsburgh should pledge to remain neutral with respect to the faculty and graduate employees free exercise of their right to form unions, and to refrain from undertaking any activities, including but not limited to, the use of public funds or tuition dollars, to in any way impede or in any other way influence the ability of graduate employees and/or faculty to engage in free and open dialogue about their collective bargaining rights.
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WHEREAS, non-profit intuitions of higher education are granted various benefits by the public in exchange for those institutions providing high-quality instructional and research services to the public, and those institutions are therefore obligated to meet the basic legal and moral standards of the communities they exist in; and
WHEREAS, the University of Pittsburgh is publicly subsidized as part of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education; and
WHEREAS, the University of Pittsburgh is the second largest employer in Allegheny County with 6,600 faculty members and 2,500 graduate employees; and
WHEREAS, the success of the 25,200 students enrolled in undergraduate programs at the University of Pittsburgh, of which 18,800 are Pennsylvania residents, depends on the institutional support of faculty and graduate employees; and
WHEREAS, all faculty and graduate employees at the University of Pittsburgh should be provided with institutional support sufficient for them to carry out their vital role as educators of the University’s students; and
WHEREAS, all faculty and graduate employees, like all workers, should be paid fair wages and benefits that allow them to support themselves and their families; and
WHEREAS, two-thirds of all faculty are in precarious non-tenure track positions, and many non-tenure track faculty members and graduate employees are paid wages which range from below to slightly above the federal poverty threshold;...
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