Pitt’s ongoing pay negotiations with staff and faculty unions have reached a standstill, following a proposed salary freeze. 

On Sept. 1, the University proposed a salary freeze for faculty and staff, which affects about 9,000 Pitt employees in the two bargaining units, following negotiations over a proposed salary increase. The bargaining process is ongoing, with both faculty and staff unions represented by the United Steelworkers. 

This proposed salary freeze follows two years of federal funding research cuts that have affected Pitt’s budgets. University spokesperson Jared Stonesifer said during bargaining sessions on Aug. 27 and Sept. 1, USW bargaining representatives turned down the University’s compensation memorandum of understanding counterproposals. 

“The [counterproposals] for both staff and faculty offered a lump sum payment to both full-time and part-time staff and faculty,” Stonesifer said. “The faculty union and the staff union rejected these proposals and indicated they would rather discuss this year’s annual increase as part of their larger compensation proposals for the faculty and staff [collective bargaining unit], respectively.” 

Shawn Alfonso-Wells, a bargaining member of the staff union and exchange and panther program manager for Pitt Global, said though Pitt has lost federal funding, they are still seventh in the country in NIH funding, and the University has made efforts to rectify any losses.

“[The University] also raised tuition, let go of employees and apparently had enough money to give Chancellor Gable a 32% pay raise,” Alfonso-Wells said. “We have had people working here for over 20 years, and they’re still earning under $35,000 [per] year. That pay raise could have been equally distributed to the staff. I mean, we’re the ones that keep Pitt running, right?” 

Tyler Bickford, unit president of Pitt’s faculty union and professor of English, said the University has not been clear as to why limited federal funding resulted in a proposed salary freeze.   

“When we looked at the records, last July in 2025, the trustees announced a budget with a $1.2 billion research base, and this July, just a couple weeks before they proposed the salary freeze, the trustees announced a budget with a $1.2 billion research base,” Bickford said. “In the budget, the research base is the same.” 

Both union representatives recognized the fiscal challenges the University is citing as reasons for the proposed salary freeze. However, Bickford said the lack of communication about the direct effects of the funding loss has made negotiations difficult. 

“We were troubled that when we asked questions about this, their bargaining team was not able to answer a single one of our questions, even the most basic ones,” Bickford said. “That is extremely difficult.”

Both union representatives emphasized concerns that long-term employees were not earning salaries that reflected their time at the University. Bickford said issues of salary compression are significant in the negotiations.

”We have faculty who have been at the university for 10 or 20 years, whose salaries are barely higher than those of more recently hired faculty or faculty at lower ranks,” Bickford said. “That’s just a basic issue of fairness, and we should be able to expect that our salaries will grow along with our careers.” 

Alfonso-Wells said Pitt staff also struggle with similar disproportionate pay rates. 

“I graduated from Pitt. Lots of us have graduated from Pitt. I know families that have been here for over 20 or 30 years,” Alfonso-Wells said. “You lose a grant, and now you can’t give them priority over funding another position in the University? That’s not how we treat people.”

Bickford said not properly compensating faculty also has an effect on students, both in the classroom and financially. 

“Faculty and students both are absorbing these real challenges to our work,” Bickford said. “We’re seeing larger class sizes, fewer classes being taught and no increases in faculty salaries. If students are paying that tuition, I think that they have a right to expect that their tuition is going to their education.”

Pitt’s board of trustees approved tuition increases in Pitt’s budget for the 2027 fiscal year during its meeting on July 10. Tuition rates increased by 3% for in-state students and 4% for out-of-state students. 

Alfonso-Wells said staff, such as those working in dining halls, as landscapers and as shuttle drivers, are essential players in the day-to-day operations of the University. 

“I know people who are doing this because they truly love the students. They want to see these young people succeed and reach their potential,” Alfonso-Well said. “One way to really help us help the students to reach their potential is to adequately compensate us.” 

Bickford said faculty feel an immense care for the work they do at Pitt and hope to be compensated for it. 

“People make a conscious decision to work at Pitt, often for less money, but because they’re passionate and committed about the work, and that’s important to them,” said Bickford. “But that doesn’t mean that the University has a right to exploit us. A salary freeze is honestly just insulting.”