Point Park University union speaks against layoffs of 17 faculty

Point Park University’s faculty union spoke up in opposition of the school’s move to eliminate 17 full-time, non-tenured faculty members this week.

Point Park officials announced the contracts of 17 full-time, non-tenured faculty members would not be renewed at the end of this academic year, citing financial difficulties related to the covid-19 pandemic. The university has 144 faculty members as of Fall 2020. The move was allowed through the university’s collective bargaining agreement with the faculty union, a spokesman said.

But the Newspaper Guild of Pittsburgh/Communications Workers of America Local 38061, which represents full-time faculty at Point Park, on Friday said the decision was a “blatant contradiction” of the intent of the collective bargaining agreement. A change.org petition linked on the union’s website has also gathered more than 1,600 signatures opposing the faculty members’ dismissal.

“Point Park faculty members, as well as the students they serve, deserve far better from the university,” Newspaper Guild president Lacretia Wimbley said.

In a statement, the Newspaper Guild accused the university of a “calculated misreading” and “twisted interpretation” of an article in the agreement. While the university said it will not renew the contracts of the 17 affected faculty members, the union said the positions are actually being eliminated altogether.

Eliminating a position requires an entirely different procedure, the union said: The university must eliminate the position by Sept. 15 in order for it to take effect at the end of the academic year.

“Furthermore, management is required to eliminate part-time faculty positions in the affected department, program or major before they can eliminate full-time faculty positions,” the statement continues.

While the university implied the reason for the non-renewals was connected to financial hardship due to the covid-19 pandemic, the union staunchly opposed this idea. The university, which serves around 4,000 students, recently announced a 4% tuition increase, the statement noted. Point Park also received $9 million in federal funding, “and has failed to be transparent as to how those funds were used,” it said.

“This attempt to justify their actions on the current pandemic rather than years of reckless and poor financial planning, that has seen the university saddled with crushing debt, is the sign of a management team that is ethically and creatively bankrupt,” the union said.

Point Park officials declined to give details as to which faculty members or academic departments would be affected by the change. The union accused the university of “targeting” younger faculty members and members of minority groups, including women of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“University officials should at least follow the terms of the contract, but they have chosen not to,” Wimbley said. “We strongly urge the university to rescind the nonrenewal letters they sent out to the 17 faculty members, as this is not only a slap in the face to the employees and a violation of our CBA, but it’s also a tremendous disservice to the students.”

In response to the Newspaper Guild’s statement, Point Park University officials released their own statement, denying the union’s claims of discrimination. The university would not go into detail about the challenge to their interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement.

“The university does not negotiate contracts or contract disputes through the media,” Lou Corsaro, a spokesman, said. “Disputes regarding the interpretation of language included in the collective bargaining agreement are resolved through a process outlined in that agreement under the Grievance and Arbitration Clause.”

The agreement between the university and union is set to expire at the end of June.