A ‘Terrible’ Night: Harvard Custodians Say They Scoured for Places to Sleep During Latest Blizzard

As a snowstorm engulfed campus late Sunday, Harvard custodians working around-the-clock snow removal shifts and other jobs said they were left scrambling for places to sleep, even as the University provided overnight accommodations.

Though Harvard told supervisors that food and lodging would be provided for custodians covering extended shifts, workers said many of the designated sleeping areas did not have enough cots — resulting in some sleeping in undesignated locations across campus, including common rooms in freshman dorms and custodial closets.

Sonia Piers, a shop steward for Service Employees International Union’s 32BJ, said she was one of roughly 15 custodians she knew of who were searching Harvard Yard for makeshift accommodations Sunday night. They found respite in common spaces — including on the floor — because “there’s no space to rest,” she said.

Eleshaday Mengiste ’29 was among several students studying in the Straus Hall common room when Piers entered looking for a place to sleep. Finding the room occupied by students, Piers went back outside into the storm to look elsewhere.

Mengiste said she and a friend “chased down” Piers and invited her to sleep in the common room — along with several other custodians — and gave them water.

“To not provide housing for them and to have them sleeping in common rooms is just so bizarre to me,” she said. “We didn’t need it as much as they needed it at the moment, obviously.”

Itelvina Fernandez, another Harvard custodian, described the conditions as “terrible,” recounting the competing pressures of needing a place to rest — she needed to rise at 3:30 a.m. for work — and not wanting to disturb students in common spaces.

John Samnell, who has been a custodian at Harvard for 45 years, said he stayed in the basement of Matthews Hall. When he heard students playing games in the common room until 3:00 a.m, he opted to sleep in a custodial closet.

Samnell said he wished Harvard would have taken further measures to supply temporary lodging for custodians.

“They should give us a room in their dorms or a room at a hotel,” he said.

Harvard has provided sleeping accommodations to custodians during severe weather incidents in the past. While the University provided temporary sleeping spaces on Sunday night, custodians said several of the designated areas did not have enough beds.

Franklin Soults, the regional communications manager of 32BJ-SEIU, said he heard that in one academic building, there were 25 cots available for approximately 40 custodians who were looking to stay there.

A University spokesperson wrote that Harvard Campus Services requires staff to sign an “Emergency Response & Staffing Policy” biannually, which outlines procedures for continuing Harvard’s “essential services” during inclement weather.

“Essential service must still be provided by on-campus critical operations workers,” the spokesperson wrote. “The policy also stipulates that those who work extended period beyond a normal shift will be provided with rest and extended break periods.”

Under the union’s current contract, workers who cover shifts between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. as well as those who perform snow removal during their shifts are each paid a $1.75 per hour premium.

Soults said the snowstorm highlighted the crucial role custodians play on campus, arguing that the services they provided were not matched by the support they received from the University.

“It just shows how much their work is needed at the school and all the more reason we hope that we are going to get a good contract in the next coming sessions,” he said.

32BJ-SEIU is in the thick of bargaining with the University for its next contract, with healthcare and wages among key points of contention. Harvard offered to raise wages but proposed freezing healthcare subsidies at $1,555 until 2029 during the most recent round of negotiations.

“I know that there’s anxiety and disappointment and frustration out there among the custodians — that they don’t have and that we haven’t been able to reach an agreement that will give them what they need and deserve,” Soults said.

“And yet — despite all that — they still are demonstrating their commitment to doing the best that they can for those students and staff at Harvard,” he added. “We hope that that will be recognized.”

—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.