Harvard, Custodial Union Reach Tentative Agreement on Four-Year Contract After Five Months of Negotiations

Harvard’s custodial union reached a tentative agreement with the University on a four-year contract Tuesday evening, ending nearly five months of fraught negotiations.

The contract — which covers both direct University employees and workers from five Harvard-contracted companies — includes the largest wage increase for custodians in 20 years, alongside new terms on immigration protections, overnight shift pay, and healthcare.

Custodians represented by Service Employees International Union 32BJ will convene in the coming days to vote on the contract before it can go into effect, according to a Tuesday press release from the union. The agreement would become effective retroactively to Nov. 15, 2025 — when the previous contract expired — if ratified.

At the bargaining table, the two parties agreed to around a four-dollar wage increase over the course of four years, raising hourly compensation from $28.68 to $32.68 by 2029. The increase will be gradually phased in: $0.75 in 2026, followed by $1.00 in 2027, $1.10 in 2028, and $1.15 in 2029.

Harvard had previously proposed raising wages to around $31 by 2029 through smaller annual increments: $0.60, $0.90, $0.90, and $1.00 over the four years.

The new four-year wage scheme surpasses cost of living estimates in the greater Boston area — a “top goal” of the union, according to 32BJ-SEIU executive vice president Kevin Brown.

“Our top goal was to have above cost of living increases to make up some of the ground people lost during the pandemic,” Brown said.

The increased pay that is given to employees working overnight shifts also improved, with the premium increasing from $1.75 extra per hour to $2.00 extra per hour.

The change follows a recent blizzard during which custodians working extended shifts struggled to find places to sleep, with some resorting to freshman common rooms and custodial closets after the University’s designated sleeping areas did not have enough cots.

A $500 ratification bonus — given to union members upon ratification of the contract — is also included in the new contract, half of the $1,000 stipend Harvard offered at the most recent bargaining session.

The new contract will also continue the healthcare package outlined in the union’s previous contract with Harvard, maintaining annually-compounded payments to the union’s healthcare fund, which covers health insurance for workers who opt into the union’s plan instead of the University’s employer-provided coverage. Harvard had previously pushed to freeze its annual contribution to the fund at $1,555 for the first three years of the contract.

Brown said the healthcare terms of the tentative agreement were critical for custodians and their families.

“It allows working people to be able to provide the health care for themselves and the family that they really need,” Brown said.

The tentative agreement also includes revised language protecting the job security of immigrant union members. Brown said the changes make clear that custodians facing documentation or visa issues can take a leave of absence and return to work once the matter is resolved.

But the union did not secure a joint legal fund it had pushed for since the start of bargaining, which would have helped defray the cost of hiring lawyers for custodians facing immigration challenges.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote that Harvard was “pleased” with the tentative agreement, noting that it is subject to ratification by the full union membership.

“Harvard is pleased that a tentative agreement has been reached with SEIU-32BJ,” Newton wrote. “The four-year contract is subject to ratification by the full membership of the Union, at a later date. We are grateful for our dedicated team of custodians, represented by SEIU-32BJ.”

The tentative agreement reflects five tumultuous months of bargaining — punctuated by rallies, a two-day strike in October, and the involvement of a federal mediator in December.

Asked about the overall process, Brown described bargaining as “extremely difficult.”

“It was a long campaign,” he said.

Brown credited the agreement in part to what he described as growing public support for custodians, pointing to the backing of Rep. Ayanna S. Pressley (D-Mass.) and State Rep. Marjorie C. Decker, both of whom stood in solidarity at a recent 32BJ rally.

According to Brown, 32BJ will also start bargaining this year at other colleges, including MIT, Boston University, Northeastern, and Tufts. Brown said the Harvard contract could give the union leverage in those negotiations.

“These percentage wage increases will definitely not hurt us and may help us a little bit in that market — that’s over 1500 members,” he said.

Brown also expressed gratitude for the Harvard students who rallied alongside custodians throughout the bargaining process.

“We just really want to thank the students, especially, who all stood up, supported the workers,” he said. “And in the end, when we fight, we win.”

—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.