My name is Rachel Sandalow-Ash and I am a research assistant at Harvard Law School and a member of the Harvard Graduate Students Union bargaining committee. During our strike, Provost Garber said that the university administration hoped to reach a contract “within the month ahead.” Given the small number of proposals the administration has brought to the table over the past month, it is hard to imagine how they expected to meet that deadline.
It is clear that the mediation process alone will not be sufficient to get us the contract that we need. Over the next several months, we need to increase our organizing and pressure on the university in order to reach an agreement. Please participate in the strike exit survey to share your experience and what motivates you to continue our fight for a fair contract.
On Thursday, we had our third mediated bargaining session with the university administration and the federal mediator. We delved into a number of key topics, such as compensation, healthcare, union access and rights, union security, and protections against discrimination and harassment.
Discrimination and harassment:
We know that protections against discrimination and harassment are crucial to ensuring that our rights and safety are protected at work. Despite our continued insistence, the administration communicated that they are not yet willing to agree to these protections—but we will not back down. We’re continuing to advocate for the rights of survivors of ALL forms of harassment and discrimination.
Union Access & Rights and Union Security:
On Union Access and Rights and Union Security, we are trying to ensure that our union has the resources and information that will enable us to effectively enforce the contract and communicate with a large and dispersed group of student workers. This is an area where the administration is not only seeking to restrict union representation but they are walking back on previously agreed on protections. We are doing our best to reach an agreement here without undermining our organizing power and our ability to represent workers.
You can read all of our current proposals on these and other topics, as well as the administration’s current proposals, on our website.
While the discussions today were valuable, the administration has returned to its old practices: they came with zero proposals, reneged on previous agreements, and scheduled only two sessions in February. We believe that both sides can make compromises to achieve some progress in these mediated bargaining sessions, but the administration’s bad-faith bargaining is making this very difficult. As student workers, we must maintain and increase pressure on the administration in order to win a fair contract that meets our needs. We have to let them know how important this contract is to student workers at Harvard.
Upcoming Events
- Monday, Feb 3rd at 4:30pm the Government Graduate Student Association Diversity Working Group will host a panel called “Making #MeToo Count: Achieving Institutional Change at Harvard” at CGIS South S010 (1730 Cambridge St.) with speakers including survivors who spoke out about the Dominguez scandal, America’s top #MeToo lawyer Debra Katz, and Sejal Singh, a student worker and HGSU-UAW organizer. RSVP here. We hope that many of our members can attend this event as we continue to organize for a #NoCarveOut grievance procedure.
Want to learn more or get involved in organizing?
If you have any questions about negotiations, or about the process, please reach out to your department leaders or email us by responding to this email. We would love to hear your feedback and answer your questions!
In Solidarity,
Rachel Sandalow-Ash
Law School
