My name is Justin Bloesch, and I am a 4th year PhD student in economics. On Friday we (virtually) met with the Harvard administration for the first time since they postponed bargaining to assess the financial impact of COVID-19 on March 25.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic our negotiations have been happening in a new context. As our panelists and testifiers for Wednesday’s Press Conference made clear, student workers are both on the frontlines doing the crucial research work to defeat this pandemic and are hit hard by COVID-19 and its economic fallout. You can hear testimonials from COVID-19 researchers here and watch a video from our press conference on COVID-19’s impact on student workers here.
Since the COVID-19 crisis began, we have been advocating for protections for pay security for student workers as well as dining, custodial and security staff, and a Bridge Year Funding for doctoral students. The university has addressed some of our demands on these fronts, with the latest announcement of Emergency Funding programs. We’re continuing to update our demands tracker to reflect these developments.
In light of COVID-19, whereas both sides had previously discussed a multi-year agreement, the administration has modified economic offers by proposing a one-year contract (FY21), which would expire on June 30, 2021.
The administration’s previous economic package remains unchanged:
- Compensation: 2.8% increases on July 1 for salaried RAs and TFs, new minimum wage for hourly RAs of $16/hour and for hourly TAs/CAs of $17/hour.
- Health & Dental: $575,000 in pools to help cover spouse and dependent health premiums, and dental care and mental health co-pays for salaried student workers.
- Childcare: $350,000 in a pool to reimburse licensed child care facility costs for salaried student workers.
You can review all of our proposals and the administration’s proposals on our website. We are waiting to hear about more dates from the administration and are evaluating these changes. Please write to us with any questions concerning these proposals, COVID-19’s impact on student workers, and other concerns you might have.
You can consult our COVID-19 resources, which are still live here and get in touch to organize with us in times of COVID-19:
- COVID-19 Night School
- Demands Tracker
- Open Letter for Bridge Funding
- COVID-19 Impact Survey
- Best Practices Document
- Resources for Teaching that Won’t Exploit Your Labor
- Mutual Aid
In solidarity,Justin Bloesch
PS: Happy (late) international workers day (& HGSU’s certification birthday)!
