I hope you are staying safe and healthy. My name is Ege, and I’m a PhD student in philosophy and member of the bargaining committee. I’m writing to give you an update on some of our union’s work during COVID-19.
New Tentative Agreement on Workload; Addressing workload concerns
Many Teaching Fellows have reported significant increases in workload as the university has moved classes online. From arranging external speakers, addressing tech issues, and creating whole new curricula, to sometimes being asked to take over the lectures of a course, we are feeling the impact of not having contract protections.
We are glad to report that we have reached a new tentative agreement on workload. This tentative agreement guarantees that workers will be given a reasonable amount of time to complete their duties, cannot be forced to work more than an average of 20 hours per week, and must be paid for all hours worked. It also establishes that workload will be commensurate with compensation. If issues related to workload arise, student workers will have the ability to process these claims through our grievance procedure.
While our tentative agreement does not protect us until we win our entire contract, our organizing does. If you are willing to speak up about how “Zoom University” has impacted your work (anonymously or not) please respond to this email. And if you have not yet done so, fill out our COVID-19 impact survey.
Student workers are meeting with their supervisors, DGS, or Department Chairs to present to them our Best Practices document, and offering to outline how TFs can be protected from workload abuses. If you’re interested, or would like support in reaching out to your department leadership, please write to us by responding to this email so that we can help advocate for you.
Open Letter for A Bridge Funding Year
Due to COVID-19, doctoral students across campus are unable to run experiments, travel for fieldwork, or otherwise make progress on our research. Several weeks ago, Harvard added one-year appointment extensions to tenure-track faculty. In partnership with the GSAS Student Council, our union has spearheaded an Open Letter to Harvard GSAS calling on Harvard to establish a fully-funded one-year COVID-19 bridge year for all PhD students. We have dedicated a working group of HGSU organizers from GSAS to work on this effort. You will receive an email if you indicate interest on the signature form. Please write to us if you want to get involved.
COVID-19 Organizing Efforts
We have compiled the administration’s responses to our demands here. For your reference, here is a list of our union’s updated COVID-19 efforts:
The Open Letter to Harvard GSAS for Bridge Funding
COVID-19 Night School
Best Practices Document
COVID-19 Impact Survey
Resources for Online Teaching that Won’t Exploit Your Labor
COVID-19 Mutual Aid Coordination form
Letter to the Administration on COVID-19’s Impact on Our Community; Alan Garber’s Response
List of Health Insurance and Funding Resources
