HGSU-UAW Bargaining Goals

Ratified by members in 2018

We present the following HGSU-UAW Initial Bargaining Goals for negotiating our first contract at Harvard.  Our goals draw on extensive feedback, through thousands of conversations and bargaining surveys, coming from a majority of student workers across all segments of the Harvard community. 

Student workers play an integral role in the quality of Harvard’s core missions of producing cutting-edge research and providing a world-class education to thousands of students each year. 

In pursuing these goals, we hope to improve our conditions in ways that enhance our ability to focus on quality teaching and research and also make Harvard a more accessible and inclusive community for all.  Therefore, our demands for our collective bargaining agreement include, but are not limited to, the following goals:

Equity and Inclusivity: Ensure that all Student Workers (SWs) can study, work, and live at Harvard without fear of discrimination, harassment, abuse, or retaliation

1. Improve inclusion and anti-discrimination and harassment trainings for student workers (SW) and their supervisors.
2. Improve access, support, and services for SWs with disabilities.
3. Ensure Harvard demonstrates a strong, ongoing commitment to understanding and addressing the concerns of vulnerable populations on campus.
4. Establish stronger protections and recourse for sexual and gender-based harassment or assault. Increase protections against profiling and discrimination based on race, color, religion, country of national origin, visa status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability handicap, pregnancy status, or veteran status and other categories.
5. Improve access, funding, and staffing of centers such as the Women’s Center and the Office of BGLTQ Life and commit to recruiting and appointing underrepresented minorities.
6. Establish the right to expedited, neutral and procedurally fair, third-party grievance procedure for discrimination, harassment, and other complaints without waiving SW’s rights to other forums.
7. Guarantee adequate and extensive interim measures and remedies to protect survivors of discrimination, harassment, or assault.
8. Create paid SWs positions to focus on diversity and inclusion issues.
9. Ensure that medical confidentiality of SWs is honored.

Compensation: Improve compensation for all SWs

1. Establish fair pay/stipends for all SWs, including increased minimum pay rates and guaranteed annual increases that keep pace with local cost-of living.
2. Ensure access to paid SW positions for individuals who want or need them, for example, summer positions and positions for upper-year doctoral students.
3. Timely compensate SWs for all teaching and research work performed, including but not limited to, substitute teaching, overseeing undergraduate independent studies and out-of-state activities.
4. Waive tuition and fees for all SWs.
5. Streamline payroll process, including online time reporting for hourly work.
6. Establish advance payment for any required, work-related travel and expenses.
7. Account for course preparation hours, not just teaching hours, when determining compensation, notably for split fifths.

Health Benefits: Improve medical, dental, vision, and mental health care for all SWs

1. Provide fully-paid medical, dental, and vision insurance for all SWs and their dependents.
2. Minimize out-of-pocket costs, including prescription costs.
3. Expand the list of covered medications and establish a pharmacy by mail system.
4. Expand provider network including mental health coverage and access to specialists.
5. Increase number of specialist visits allowed.
6. Ensure access to medical care and prescriptions for traveling and non-local SWs.
7. Ensure access to providers who are trained and experienced in providing care to individuals with a range of backgrounds, identities, and experiences.
8. Ensure that University Health Services responds to health and mental health emergencies, without unnecessarily turning to law enforcement.
9. Eliminate fees related to requests for medical and dental records through HUHS.
10. Ensure coverage for medication for the special needs of transgender individuals and expand to include procedures not yet covered (e.g. facial surgeries, sperm and egg banking, facial hair removal, vocal coaching, vocal surgeries).

Job Security and Transparency: Increase security and transparency of all SW positions

1. Ensure that open research and teaching positions are posted publicly and when filling positions, ensure Harvard commits to providing equal employment opportunity to its SWs.
2. Provide clear expectations of work responsibilities, hours, and hiring criteria.
3. Notify SWs about job appointments in a timely manner.
4. Ensure full pay or comparable appointment in cases of change or departure of supervisor, course cancellations, or reductions in work.
5. Protect SWs from discipline and/or discharge without just cause

 International Student Worker Protections: Ensure that all SWs study, work, and live at Harvard without fear of deportation, retaliation, or discrimination

1. Guarantee access to free legal assistance for SWs with visa/immigration issues.
2. Ensure security of pay and benefits for SWs who encounter visa problems or are targeted by discriminatory state or federal policies.
3. Remove or refine the requirement for international SWs to prove financial solvency.
4. Improve access to free or no-cost spoken and written English language training.
5. Define international SWs’ visa related subjects/fields individually based on each SW’s concentration.

 Leaves of Absence: Establish fully-paid leave policies for all SWs

1. Guarantee fully-paid sick leave, parental leave (for childbirth, fostering, and adoption), family leave, and leave for bereavement, jury duty, and military duty.
2. Ensure workers’ compensation for SWs who are injured on the job.
3. Provide health insurance during leaves of absence at no additional cost.
4. Ensure access to minimum paid vacation time off (time to visit family, travel, etc.).
5. Provide protections for SWs who take leave at critical academic times.
6. Ensure that SWs maintain access to university-owned housing while on leave.

Childcare: Improve childcare and dependent benefits for all SWs

1. Ensure that all SWs with children have access to high quality, free or low-cost childcare centers on campus.
2. Provide more flexible access to on-campus childcare centers.
3. Waive application fees for on-campus childcare.
4. Ensure convenient access to safe, private lactation stations.
5. Expand access to existing childcare programs that currently cover other university affiliates.
6. Provide childcare subsidies for off-campus childcare centers.

Transportation: Improve transportation services for all SWs and their dependents

1. Provide year-round MBTA passes.
2. Establish a bicycle reimbursement program to aid ownership and maintenance.
3. Extend and expand shuttle services.
4. Establish institutional discounts for rideshares for use as emergency rides.
5. Provide Parking and Park-and-ride benefits.

Housing: Enhance access to affordable housing for all SWs

1. Lower costs of university-owned housing for SWs.
2. Expand access to university-owned housing for all SWs, including those with dependents.
3. Establish that no SWs can be required to pay rent in university-owned housing until SW receives their pay.
4. Ensure that graduate SWs living in university-owned housing can pay rent and meal plans monthly (rather than by semester or year) without additional fees.

 Training & Professional Development: Enhance access to adequate training for all SWs

1. Guarantee pay for all required training and orientations.
2. Ensure the availability of training necessary to fulfill job responsibilities.
3. Increase SW participation in determining the content of training.           
4. Increase opportunities and services for professional and career development; e.g. paid access to conferences, University courses, and other classes; paid time off for job interviews; and improved mentorship.
5. Ensure equal access to necessary academic software across Harvard’s campuses.

Healthy Work Environment: Ensure that all SWs work in a healthy, safe, non-abusive environment

1. Ensure a healthy and safe work environment.
2. Improve intellectual property rights for all SWs, including but not limited to, patents, authorship, and copyright protections.
3. Ensure access to a workspace and adequate equipment and resources for all SWs, including emergency and non-emergency research needs (e.g. data access fees).
4. Establish fair and reasonable workload protections.
5. Provide personal space convenient to the workplace (e.g., places to take private phone calls, space to store belongings).

Financial Stability Protections: Relieve the financial burdens on SWs

1. Improve and expand needs-based financial aid programs.
2. Improve and expand loan repayment assistance programs.
3. Establish a retirement benefit system for SWs.
4. Establish emergency grant funds (e.g. costs associated with medical, family, immigration-related emergencies).
5. Provide tax preparation advice and resources (e.g. reimbursement for professional tax preparation services or software).

Union Recognition and Rights: Establish provisions that enable a strong SW voice through the union

1. Affirm that Harvard recognizes HGSU-UAW as the exclusive bargaining representative for SWs in the bargaining unit.    
2. Allow Union access to facilities, SWs and orientations, office space, and information about the bargaining unit.
3. Provide HGSU-UAW representatives paid release time to provide effective representation to SWs.
4. Ensure that individuals doing bargaining unit work are covered by and have all rights under the contract.
5. Ensure levels of SW positions that promote excellence in teaching and research.
6. Ensure that all SWs receive adequate information about their Union, their collective bargaining agreement, and rights including access to grievance procedures.
7. Establish a fair grievance procedure with the option of neutral arbitration.
8. Establish clauses on union security and dues deduction, severability, successorship and duration of the contract.