In our 21st bargaining session yesterday, we made some meaningful progress by reaching tentative agreement on three more contract articles. But the administration’s continued resistance to many of our core priorities, as well as to scheduling more substantial bargaining time, highlights whyhundreds of student workers from all major departments on campus have committed to organize a strike vote this fall if we do not have a fair agreement.
New tentative agreements: Our Intellectual Property article clarifies our rights as student workers, commits Harvard to creating a “plain language” summary of the policies and dispute procedures, and prohibits any form of retaliation against a student worker who asserts their intellectual property rights or participates in any investigation of scholarly misconduct. Our Health & Safety article provides for a healthy and safe work environment, including — among other things — proper training, provision of personal protective equipment, and incorporating our voices through joint meetings between Administration and Union members. Our Union-Management Committee article creates a dedicated channel for the Administration and the Union to communicate during the lifetime of our contract.
Despite the progress, there remains substantial distance between our positions in articles such as Non-Discrimination, Healthcare, and Compensation. For example, the Administration’s current health care proposal would not even provide enough money to cover the cost of dependent premium increases they recently imposed on student workers with families, let alone move toward our proposal to offer paid dependent health care. Likewise, the University continues to reject a fair, neutral process for addressing discrimination and harassment and has proposed meager compensation increases that would continue to leave many student workers behind peers at competitor institutions.
In an effort to reach compromise on other articles, we merged our Harvard University Health Services and our Health Benefits proposals to focus on overhauling our mental health coverage and waiving or reimbursing required fees. Likewise, we reduced the amounts we are asking for in Family Friendly Benefits proposal, while retaining calls for access to resources only available to staff and faculty. Our Transportation Benefits article was updated with new options offered by the MBTA to universities, and to reduce the distance with the Administration’s position, we reduced the number of options available, retaining a choice of parking, public transit, or bicycling benefit similar to the one already enjoyed by Harvard staff.
We are confident that the progress we made yesterday reflects the growing, visible willingness of student workers to fight for a fair contract. However, the administration’s continued intransigence on core priorities like fair protections against discrimination and harassment, as well as the fact that they have thus far only offered six and one-half hours of bargaining in September, makes clear we will need to continue taking greater action to win a fair contract.
