Dining Hall Workers' Union Votes To Extend Contract for a Week

After failing to agree to a new contract for dining hall workers, the University and UNITE HERE! Local 26—the union which represents the workers—have agreed to extend the current contract until September 12. The contract was originally slated to expire today.

UNITE HERE! members and University officials will be in meetings on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week as they attempt to iron out a contract agreeable to both sides.

Union President Brian Lang said that no agreement has been reached because the University has not dealt with Local 26’s top demand—full time jobs for dining hall workers—to the union’s satisfaction.

“Harvard still has not addressed sufficiently the main concerns: hours and incomes,” Lang said. “We want the basics: 40 hours a week, 12 months a year. We want sustainable jobs.”

Despite the stall in the negotiations, University spokesperson Kevin Galvin wrote in an emailed statement that the extension does not signify a lack of progress in the ongoing negotiations.

“To date, the discussions have been productive and we are confident that an agreement will be reached that benefits both the University and the men and women who work in HUHDS,” Galvin wrote.

Lang said that union members feel that it is unfair for the University to ask for more from workers while it pays them less.

“Dining hall workers have lost 50,000 hours this year,” Lang said. “But we still have to feed the same number of students.”

UNITE HERE’s campaign for “sustainable jobs” has been accompanied by a push for the use of more sustainable foods—more local, fresh, and organic produce and fewer pre-packaged items. The union has said that the reduction in workers’ hours has not only hurt employees financially, but it has also negatively impacted the quality of the food they produce.

“A lot in the kitchen comes from cans,” said one dining hall worker who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the topic. “We want to make good food for students, but we don’t have enough hours.”

Another key negotiation point within the sustainable jobs campaign is the union’s push for summer employment for its members.

Lang said that most workers are not employed in the summer months, despite the fact that Harvard has a number of temporary positions that open up while class is not in session.

“There are 850 summer temp jobs,” Lang said. “Our workers received 46 of them.” He said the union wants the University to give first priority for those temporary jobs to Local 26 workers.

Looking forward, Lang said that the union will not agree to extend the contract much longer.

“If we cannot come to an agreement soon, UNITE HERE! is prepared to take more severe action, up to and including a strike,” Lang said.

—Staff writer Mercer R. Cook can be reached at mcook@college.harvard.edu.