It’s Our Turn To Support HGSU

As students across the College face their first round of midterms, another worry looms on many of our minds: a strike.

The disruptions caused by the 40-day strike of the Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Auto Workers transformed the end of last semester. In the crucial weeks leading up to finals, sections and office hours were cancelled, professors scrambled to change exam formats, and many classes changed location or moved online to avoid crossing picket lines. Chanting from demonstrations routinely woke sleeping students in Canaday and Thayer. Even Commencement was disrupted by protests.

Last week, the union voted to authorize another strike.

As undergraduate students, we are concerned about this possibility. A strike this fall would be even more disruptive because it would start earlier in the semester, and the union’s protests would likely be even more ambitious. It would cause disruptions to two semesters, the equivalent of one full year, of our college experience. We have the right to be angry. Let us be clear: We are angry at the Harvard administration.

In fact, HGSU is only one of several unions that are currently negotiating with Harvard. The Harvard Academic Workers Union voted to authorize a strike this July, and Harvard University Dining Services workers, represented by UNITE HERE Local 26, haven’t had a contract since June. We can count on a difficult fall semester for everyone if any of the unions strike, let alone several of them. As students, we are frustrated by the possibility that the events of last spring could be repeated or even amplified.

Throughout last semester, the University attempted to pit graduate and undergraduate students against each other and convince undergraduates that they were being betrayed by their instructors.

In an email to the Harvard community, Provost John F. Manning ’82 wrote that a contract must “recognize the important contributions of our graduate student workers” while also preserving the “rights and educational opportunities of all our students,” as if the two were somehow at odds. The email also reiterated information about the current TF salaries and the size of the proposed raises, misleadingly representing reasonable requests, in the words of HGSU, as “unreasonable special protections.” In reality, HGSU’s demands for pay parity, fair benefits, protections from harassment and discrimination, and protections from ICE are quite modest.

If Harvard truly wants to recenter academics, it must first recenter its teaching staff. TFs and research assistants can’t do their jobs well when they don’t know if they can afford their rent. A TF leading three sections to make ends meet while finishing a dissertation can’t dedicate as much time to each student as someone who only teaches two sections. If Harvard continues to prioritize profit over their employees’ wellbeing, the quality of a Harvard education will continue to decline.

Undergraduate course assistants, some of whom are eligible to join HGSU, are also affected by the lack of a contract. The union’s demand for a third-party arbitration process in cases of discrimination or harassment would empower all workers to speak up when they feel unsafe. Undergraduate CAs are as vulnerable to these risks as graduate students, and the only way to protect all student workers is to secure a fair, comprehensive, and legally enforceable contract.

We stand with HGSU because we know that a strike is a last resort. All of us would rather be in our classrooms and labs — teaching, learning, and researching. Despite the efforts of HGSU representatives, the University has not offered meaningful compromises since its wage proposal in August since June. Ultimately, Harvard is showing us where its priorities lie: It is putting its bottom line ahead of students’ interests. If the University administration wants to show it cares about undergrads, it will prioritize its workers and negotiate in good faith in order to avoid a strike.

Harvard has a nearly $68 billion endowment, and it grew by more than $11 billion just this year. The University can afford to do much better for its student employees. While the financial challenges brought on by the Trump administration are real, it certainly seems Harvard could afford to pay its workers fairly.

As undergrads, it shouldn’t fall on us to ensure our university pays its workers fairly — that should already be the case. But since Harvard apparently refuses to take union proposals seriously without immense pressure, we have to step up. Supporting HGSU is not only the morally right thing to do — it is in our own best interest to avoid a strike or resolve one as quickly as possible.

Therefore, we ask our fellow students to join us in taking action. Go to rallies, sign petitions, support your teachers, and if a strike starts, don’t cross the picket line.

Aria-Vue L. Daugherty ’29 is a Sociology concentrator in Adams House. Willow S. Kwak ’29 is a double concentrator in Philosophy and Theater, Dance, and Media in Adams House.