Harvard Graduate Student Workers Kick Off Second Strike of the Year

Harvard graduate student workers walked off the job at midnight Tuesday, launching their second strike of the year after their first walkout — a 40-day strike this spring — ended without a new contract.

Members of the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers gathered at the Science Center Plaza Tuesday afternoon to kick off the strike, chanting slogans and carrying signs demanding higher wages.

In an interview before Tuesday’s rally, HGSU vice president Evan R. Lemire said the union had entered its second strike with a more specific set of bargaining demands.

Lemire pointed to Harvard’s endowment, which surged to nearly $68 billion this year, as evidence that Harvard could afford to increase wages.

“Harvard’s endowment has now grown to a mind-boggling 68 billion dollars.” Lemire said. “The richest university in the world can afford to pay its workers.”

The union is also pushing for an independent process to address workplace harassment and discrimination. HGSU president Denish K. Jaswal said that one in five student workers reported experiencing harassment or discrimination.

Lemire said that the union was seeking additional “supportive measures” for affected workers, including arbitration for complaints involving third parties outside the University.

Harvard administrators have disputed the union’s characterization of negotiations. In a Monday email to Harvard affiliates, Provost John F. Manning ’82 and Executive Vice President Meredith Weenick ’90 called another strike “unwarranted,” pointing to the University’s latest proposal which includes an initial 6.1 percent raise and subsequent annual increase of 3 percent.

“The University remains fully committed to continued good faith negotiations,” they wrote. “We believe that remaining differences can be resolved at the bargaining table.”

The strike comes amid mounting labor unrest across Harvard. Last week, the University’s dining workers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike after working without a contract since June. The union representing Harvard’s non-tenure-track faculty has separately set a Nov. 10 strike deadline.

Lemire said the simultaneous labor disputes were “no coincidence.”