Harvard graduate students who began a strike and picketing April 21 continued demonstrations Friday with union members marching in a circle outside the Science Center. There were about 60 demonstrators around noon, supported by union members stationed at tables in the plaza between the Science Center and Harvard Yard.
A union member said the picket would end at 5 p.m. Another is scheduled Sunday. Harvard Graduate Students Union, a unit of United Auto Workers, represents 4,000 workers across the university’s campuses in Cambridge and Boston. The jobs affected by the strike include teaching, grading and research.
Since the strike started on Tuesday, several local politicians have joined picketers to support the union. Evan MacKay, a candidate for state representative and former HGSU-UAW president, came on Tuesday. His rival, incumbent state Rep. Marjorie Decker, came to the picket lines on Thursday. State Rep. Mike Connolly posted an interview with Local 5118 president Sara Speller on his Instagram. Connolly came back Thursday and gave a brief speech in support of the strikers. The Harvard Crimson reported that Cambridge city councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and state Sen. candidate Daniel Lander also came on Thursday to support the union.
The Crimson also reported that some drivers making deliveries had refused to cross picket lines – though some of them found other routes to complete deliveries – and some classes had moved online. Harvard spokesperson Jason Newman didn’t answer a question about the impact of the strike.
The union said it began negotiating a new contract with Harvard in March 2025, before the then-current agreement was to end June 30, but has made little progress. Main issues include higher pay – the union seeks at least $55,000 a year, and an hourly wage increased from $21 an hour to $25 an hour – increased protections for non-citizen employees, and submitting complaints of harassment and discrimination to an outside arbiter instead of using Harvard’s internal process.
Newman provided Harvard’s current grievance process, which includes binding arbitration if a complaint can’t be settled internally. Complaints of sexual harassment are handled internally under federal Title IX. As for protections for non-citizen workers, Harvard has proposed allocating at least $225,000 a year to a fund to reimburse workers for legal and immigration expenses if the issue involves the employee’s ability to work at the university,
The Harvard Graduate Students Union was organized in 2018. Members previously struck for three days in October 2021 and reached agreement after threatening a second strike.
Harvard is not the only local university facing labor challenges. Lesley’s core faculty voted to authorize a strike last week. And MIT’s Graduate Student Union also held a rally Friday in Kendall Square, with an estimated turnout of 500. Friday marked the start of bargaining for its second contract.
Jennifer Chen contributed to this story.
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