Contract Bargaining Updates
Our first elected HGSU-UAW Bargaining Committee negotiated with the Harvard administration from October 2018 through June of 2020, when they finally reached a complete tentative agreement. Members won this contract through dedicated, sustained collective action, including a mass petition, our #TimesUp rally, a one-year anniversary work-in, a sit-in in University Hall, and countless one-on-one conversations. Our organizing in 2019 culminated in a 90.4% strike authorization vote and a 29-day strike in December of 2019, the longest strike by student workers at a private university in history. On June 30, 2020, membership voted overwhelmingly (96.9%) to ratify this first one-year contract.
With the expiration date of our first contract (June 30th, 2021) rapidly approaching, our new Bargaining Committee has begun negotiating our second contract with the University. These negotiations are guided by our last contract fight, our experience enforcing our current contract, student worker responses to our 2021 bargaining survey, and ongoing communications with members. You can contact a Bargaining Committee member at any time by emailing us. On the right, you can find the latest bargaining update. Click here to read previous updates.
Latest Bargaining Update
Bargaining Update #10: University proposes 0% raises for AY 2021, HSPH workers will get pay equity!
My name is Jack Cordes and I am a G3 in Population Health Sciences representing the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH) on your Bargaining Committee (BC). Tuesday, we had our 9th bargaining session with the University. With the contract expiring on June 30th, we have little time remaining to secure adequate protections for student workers. We will not accept an inadequate offer before the 30th simply to have a contract. Nevertheless, we are still working urgently to move negotiations forward. Thus, we have scheduled 3 additional bargaining dates with the University to bring us to a total of 5 remaining sessions this month before the contract expires. The main issues discussed on Tuesday can be categorized into two large buckets: economic and non-economic. During the session, the
COVID-19 Information
The COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for students & student workers at Harvard is continuously changing. See the links below for information about our work to secure protections for student workers at Harvard during the pandemic:
About HGSU-UAW
HGSU-UAW is an organization of student workers from all schools, campuses and departments of Harvard University. We joined together starting in the Fall of 2015 to help fight for better benefits, pay and working conditions to ensure our ability to provide the highest quality of teaching and research while receiving the level of respect we deserve.
Why We Can’t Wait
Quality, Affordable Heathcare
Quality mental, dental and vision healthcare for ourselves and our families are crucial in providing our highest level of teaching and research. Over the years, the costs of healthcare have increased, while the quality of our care has diminished. We are committed to stopping this trend, and fighting for the healthcare we deserve.
Protections from Harassment and Discrimination
For too long, student workers have had to face discrimination and harassment in their daily lives, with only a Title IX system that has failed too often to be considered reliable. As recent national cases have shown, only real recourse through an independent third party arbitrator will we have the protections we need.
