Custodians Rally for Increased Wages, Healthcare Subsidies as Contract Talks with Harvard Resume

Around 150 Harvard affiliates rallied outside the Harvard Kennedy School on Thursday to call for wage increases and higher health insurance subsidies for campus custodial workers represented by the Service Employees International Union 32BJ.

Shortly after the rally, union leaders resumed bargaining with University officials after a two-month standstill — the latest session in negotiations that have stretched since early October and included a two-day strike in November as well as the introduction of a federal mediator in December.

During the Thursday session, Harvard proposed a four-year wage scheme that would begin with a 2.08 percent increase in July 2026, followed by increases of 3.06 percent, 2.97 percent, and 3.20 percent in subsequent years — a sign of flexibility on a major bargaining priority for the union.

But the University also moved to freeze its annual contribution to the union’s healthcare fund at $1,555 for the first three years of the contract, retreating from an earlier offer to gradually increase the payment to $1,649 over that time period.

The healthcare fund is an annual payment from Harvard meant to cover the cost of health insurance for workers who opt into a union health plan instead of Harvard’s employer-provided healthcare. 32BJ represents roughly 800 campus custodians, who are currently paid between around $28 and $31 an hour.

Thursday’s wage proposal marks the latest in a series of shifting offers from Harvard. The University initially sought to freeze custodian wages for a year last November before walking the offer back to propose increases of 1 percent, 2.3 percent, 2.6 percent, and 3.1 percent over four years. Harvard later offered a 2.7 percent average annual wage increase across a five-year contract in December — but the union rejected the proposal and the two sides entered federal mediation.

The union had initially requested annual wage increases of 8.7 percent, 7 percent, and 7 percent over a three-year period at the beginning of bargaining in October.

Rep. Ayanna S. Pressley (D-Mass.) and State Rep. Marjorie C. Decker attended the rally and pressured Harvard to improve its wage and healthcare offers in speeches.

Pressley said that Harvard “can do better” in supporting custodial members of 32BJ.

“You should not have to fight for your health care,” she said. “Our greatest wealth as a nation is the health of our people.”

“When we have the occupant of the Oval Office every day engaging in violent rhetoric and violent policies targeted towards women and targeted towards immigrants, you should not have to fight for protection,” she added.

A University spokesperson declined to comment on the criticisms on Thursday.

Pressley said Harvard’s push to freeze healthcare contributions echoes a broader pattern of attacks on health policy at the federal level in an interview with The Crimson after the rally.

“When it comes to healthcare, again, the administration is attacking health care right now,” she said. “It’s very demoralizing to have to fight for what should be so basic — your ability to see a doctor if you need help, if you need intervention, if you need support.”

Custodians also stressed the importance of wage increases during the rally, saying the University has not made them feel like the essential workers it claims them to be.

“When the pandemic come, I believe the University when they say we are essential workers,” said Sonia Perez, a Harvard custodian of 25 years. “But now I am here today because Harvard is showing us that they don’t think we matter enough to give us new contracts like we need.”

The rally also drew supporters from beyond Harvard. Jeffery Franchetti, a student at Northeastern University who works with the Educational Freedom Project, a student-led advocacy group on higher education, said the custodians’ fight is inseparable from a broader push to make colleges more accessible in an interview during the rally.

“It’s having the ability to not only learn and teach, but have the facilities and services enabled by faculty and staff having good wages and benefits so that they can actually make higher education possible,” he said. “Campuses aren’t just their classrooms. They’re janitors, they’re staff workers.”

Marya Axner, former director of the New England Jewish Labor Committee and a labor activist for three decades, said Harvard’s wealth makes its bargaining posture especially frustrating.

“I particularly get enraged because Harvard has so much money and so many resources,” she said in an interview. “And this happens over and over again.”

Members of other Harvard unions also showed up in solidarity.

Evan C. MacKay ’19, former president of Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Auto Workers, said the turnout reflected a shared sense of urgency across campus labor groups.

“There are a lot of fellow union members here, because we really believe that when we fight together, that we win together,” they said. “It’s really important to show up and support the workers in these really basic demands.”

“We see these struggles as incredibly interconnected,” they added.

32BJ Vice President Kevin Brown said in an interview that he was hopeful for future negotiations after Thursday’s session, pointing to what he described as a new willingness from Harvard to engage.

“There seemed to be more interest on the part of Harvard in looking for creative economic solutions to resolve this,” he said. “We’re looking to get a contract that the members feel compensates them fairly and maintains their quality, affordable health care over the four years of the agreement.”

“I could see a way to resolve this,” he added. “We’re definitely not there yet, but there’s a different openness to trying to figure out how to get there.”

—Staff writer Taylor M. Bierwerth can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @tmbierwerth.

—Staff writer Noah A. Ferris can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @noahaferris.