One Week Into Strike, Graduate Student Workers Rally at University Hall, Urge Deans to Intervene

More than 200 members of Harvard’s graduate student union rallied outside University Hall Tuesday, delivering a letter urging deans to push the University toward a contract settlement one week into their second strike of the year.

The letter, addressed to Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dean Emma Dench, was signed by members of Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers, which represents more than 4,000 undergraduate and graduate student workers.

“We need University leadership like yourself to do what is right and advocate for the workers that make this University what it is,” the letter reads.

The union’s demands remain unchanged since its second walkout of the year began last Tuesday: higher wages and benefits, protections for noncitizen workers, and an independent process for harassment and discrimination complaints.

Speakers at the rally included Harvard Law School professor Nikolas E. Bowie, local elected officials, and members of the Harvard College Democrats.

Bowie tied the strike to Harvard’s opposition to the Trump administration’s actions, arguing the University’s position with the union was incompatible with its push back to the White House.

“The University that sued the president over international students will not promise its own students in writing that it will stand between you and his agents,” Bowie said.

A Harvard spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Harvard has previously argued that another strike is “unwarranted,” pointing to its latest contract proposal, which includes an immediate 6.1 percent pay raise and subsequent annual raises of 3 percent.

Bowie also accused Harvard of warning student workers that they would have no legal protection if they strike again and of removing 800 workers from the bargaining unit the day after the union’s contract expired in June 2025.

“And it said so because it knows that Donald Trump controls the labor board,” Bowie said.

Harvard defended the move at the time, arguing that students receiving research-based stipends were not employees under federal labor law because they did not perform services for the University in exchange for compensation.

Cambridge City Councilor Ayah A. Al-Zubi ’23 said elected officials attended the rally to signal that they were closely watching Harvard’s conduct at the bargaining table.

“We’ve got eyes on you guys, we’re watching as local elected officials, and we’re going to stand behind these workers as they continue to fight for their dignity,” Al-Zubi said.

Benjamin S. Ewen-Campen, a member of the Harvard Academic Workers-UAW union who was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives on Tuesday, framed the strike as a conflict between the country’s wealthiest university and the workers who sustain it.

“This is a really simple story. This is the richest institution in this country, ripping off the people who do the work,” Ewen-Campen said. “They need to get back to the table, negotiate a fair contract. Period. End of story.”

State Rep. Mike L. Connolly, whose district primarily covers Cambridge, said many of his constituents were among the striking workers.

“You’re not just standing up for yourself — you’re really standing up for everyone in our society,” Connolly said of the strikers. “Harvard absolutely can afford to do better, so I hope that they come to the table and deliver a real contract for folks.”

Dominic F. Bombard ’27 and Alfredo Hernandez ’28, co-presidents of the Harvard College Democrats, said the group signed the union’s petition and stands behind the strike.

“We can’t claim to value education while ignoring the people who make that education possible every day,” Bombard said.

At an Oct. 22 bargaining session – the last before the strike deadline – Harvard offered a 6.1 percent raise upon ratification, followed by three percent annual raises after that. The University says the increases compound to nearly 16 percent over the life of the contract.

The two sides are scheduled to resume bargaining on Thursday for their first session since the walkout began last week. The union’s contract expired in June, following its 40-day strike — the longest in its history — that ended without Harvard and the union agreeing to a new agreement.

“Our labor makes Harvard work,” the letter concluded. “Give us the conditions to keep doing it.”

—Staff writer José Luis Ortega Castro can be reached at [email protected].