Harvard, Custodian Union To Enter Federal Mediation As Negotiations Stall

Harvard and its custodians’ union agreed on Thursday to work with a federal mediator in ongoing contract negotiations to resolve a deadlock over wage increases — the first time a mediator has stepped into custodial bargaining with the University in at least 20 years.

32BJ Service Employees International Union, which represents roughly 800 Harvard custodians, has been bargaining with Harvard since early October. But it quickly found itself at loggerheads with the University over wage increases, asking Harvard to consistently offer pay hikes that keep up with inflation, which has hovered near 3 percent since 2023.

Dozens of workers went on a two-day strike last month to protest Harvard’s proposals after their contract expired on Nov. 15, but the two parties have not made significant progress since. Harvard proposed entering federal mediation to move negotiations forward during the Thursday session, and the union agreed.

The University has slowly upped its offer from an average of 1.4 percent in yearly wage increases at the beginning of negotiations to a 2.7 percent average on Thursday, according to proposals obtained by The Crimson. The offer is still a far cry from the union’s proposed 5.1 percent average yearly increase in wages, down from 7.6 percent at the start of negotiations. (Averages were calculated keeping base wages constant across each year of the proposals, at the current $28.68 per hour.)

Harvard also offered a five-year contract in place of the union’s four-year proposal, a decision that would allow it to fix wages to help budgeting during a period of intense financial uncertainty.

Alongside the wage increases, Harvard offered a $1,000 signing bonus, $250 personal bonus, and $750 training bonus to employees upon ratification. The two parties have also tentatively agreed on a Harvard offer from last month for annual contributions to a union health fund.

But workers say the offer is far from sufficient.

Marleny Lara, a custodian on the bargaining committee, described the Thursday offer as “a joke” in a text message.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in a statement that Harvard “deeply values” its custodians, pointing to the proposal’s ratification bonuses and wage increases exceeding 3 percent in later years of the five-year offer.

“We believe this is a competitive offer that recognizes the value of our custodial team amid a time when other employees have not received increases,” he wrote.

Harvard unions, including the police union and graduate students’ union, have engaged federal mediators in the past — but this would be the first time the parties have agreed to bring one on board for custodial negotiations in at least 20 years, according to a union spokesperson.

The two parties will meet for the first time with the mediator at their next session, which is currently being scheduled for the week of Dec. 15, according to the union spokesperson.

“We understand that Harvard is facing unprecedented attacks by the Trump Administration, but they are still the richest university in the world,” 32BJ Executive Vice President Kevin Brown wrote in a statement, arguing that given its endowment growth, the University “should not resolve its woes on the backs of its lowest-paid, immigrant workers.”

“Today, we agreed to enter into mediation and are cautiously optimistic that the mediator will be successful in bringing the parties together around the wage increase our members so richly deserve,” he added.

—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at amann.mahajan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.