Unionization
National Labor Relations Board Rejects Harvard Appeal, Finds University Violated Federal Labor Law
The National Labor Relations Board upheld a ruling that Harvard violated federal labor law by refusing to provide the University’s police union with a report on a dispute between Harvard University Police Department officers, rejecting the University’s appeal of the December decision.
HGSU-UAW Strike Becomes Longest in Union History as Harvard Holds Firm at Bargaining Table
The Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers will picket through Commencement after a 27th bargaining session Thursday ended without a contract, pushing the walkout into its 31st day — the longest in the union’s history.
Academic Workers Thought They Were Ready to Strike. Their Leaders Disagreed.
Leaders of Harvard’s non-tenure-track faculty union quietly called off plans for a spring strike, overriding a membership vote after concluding the walkout risked failing to win approval from the United Auto Workers.
HUCTW Reaches One-Year Deal With Harvard, Securing $2,300 Raises
The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers reached a tentative agreement with Harvard on a one-year contract centered almost entirely on a flat wage increase, as union leaders opt for a short-term deal amid ongoing financial uncertainty on campus.
Cambridge City Council Votes to Urge Harvard to End Faculty Time Caps
The Cambridge City Council voted Monday to back Harvard’s non-tenure-track faculty, urging the University to eliminate time caps on appointments and recognize workers’ rights to union representation as contract talks enter a second year.
Harvard Law Clinical Workers Reach Agreement on Six of 43 Contract Articles After 19 Months
Harvard Law School clinical workers and the University have reached agreement on just six of 43 contract articles after 19 months of bargaining and more than 100 proposals exchanged, leaving the union without a first contract.
Harvard, HAW-UAW Reach Deal on Intellectual Property but Clash on Time Caps, Immigration
Harvard reached a tentative agreement on Tuesday to enshrine intellectual property protections for non-tenure-track faculty in its first union contract with academic workers, but the University rejected renewed pushes to codify immigration safeguards and eliminate the preceptor classification.
Harvard Graduate Student Workers Propose Wage Increases in Contract Talks
Harvard graduate student workers proposed wage increases for the first Monday, nearly a year into contract negotiations with the University.
NLRB Finds Harvard Violated Federal Labor Law in Dispute with Police Union
The National Labor Relations Board found last week that Harvard violated federal labor law by refusing to share the findings of an investigation into a dispute between officers in the Harvard University Police Department with the union representing the police force’s rank-and-file members.
Harvard Rolls Back Wage Freeze for Custodian Union
Harvard walked back a wage freeze and slightly raised compensation offers to custodians in a contract proposal on Wednesday in bargaining with the Service Employees International Union 32BJ.
Grad Union Contract Negotiations Stall Over Key Demands
At their fourteenth session on Friday, Harvard rejected 12 out of 16 outstanding article proposals presented by the Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Auto Workers. The remaining four are still under negotiation and were not presented at the Friday session.
1,300 Harvard Academic Workers Sign Petition Demanding Union Contract
Nearly 1,300 non-tenure-track faculty signed onto a petition and delivered it to Harvard’s top brass at Massachusetts Hall on Thursday, demanding a union contract “as soon as possible."
Harvard Proposes Yearlong Wage Freeze to Custodians Amid Financial Headwinds
Harvard proposed freezing custodian wages for the next year in a contract proposal to their union on Thursday to try to cut labor costs across worker groups as it navigates financial uncertainty.
Harvard Custodians Open Contract Negotiations With Wage and Benefit Requests
Harvard custodians presented a suite of economic proposals to University officials at their first bargaining session on Tuesday, asking for raises to compensate for inflation since the pandemic began.
Harvard Police Union Accuses University of Withholding Information
The union representing Harvard’s police officers accused the University of withholding the report from an investigation of a dispute between two officers, making their first public arguments in front of the National Labor Relations Board since the complaint was filed last year.
Harvard Rejects Grad Union Request to Charge Fees of All Represented Workers
Harvard denied its graduate student union’s long-held request to require represented workers to pay union fees during contract negotiations on Thursday, ratcheting up tensions at the bargaining table as the school year begins.
Grad Student Union To Ask for Access to Third-Party Arbitration in Title IX Cases
Harvard’s graduate student union will bring a proposal for third-party arbitration in discrimination and harassment cases to negotiations — a potentially contentious demand in its third set of contract negotiations.
Harvard Staff Union Urges University To Draw on Unrestricted Funds to Support Research
The executive board of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers called on the University to draw on its unrestricted endowment funds to sustain campus research amid funding cuts in an open letter to Harvard affiliates on Monday.
Harvard Grad Union Agrees To Bargain Without Ground Rules
Harvard’s graduate student union agreed to negotiate its third contract with the University without ground rules on Friday, after the two sides were unable to agree on policies for bargaining observation.
Harvard, Union Hash Out Immigration Policies Amid National ICE Raid Wave
Harvard agreed to provide non-tenure-track employees with paid leave during immigration proceedings, but declined to commit to sponsoring legal permanent residency applications in a contract counter proposal presented on Monday.
Harvard, Graduate Student Union Clash Over Bargaining Observation
Negotiations for the Harvard graduate students union’s third contract got off to a rocky start last week, when University officials canceled the first bargaining session just hours before it was scheduled to begin over a dispute about meeting attendance.
Boston Doctors Lead the Medical Unionization Wave
After more than a year of negotiations over their first contract, residents at Mass General Brigham sensed growing momentum for a strike action in January.
Harvard Offers Just Cause Protections to Unionized Undergraduate Workers
At the Monday session, the first of 2025, members of Harvard Undergraduate Workers Union-United Auto Workers — which represents 400 student workers in non-academic jobs — presented proposals to extend grievance filing deadlines, guarantee minimum work schedules, and alter employment letters.
In Major Year for Labor, Five Campus Unions Head to Bargaining Table
More than 10,500 Harvard workers, represented by five unions, will negotiate new contracts with the University in 2025, setting the stage for a remarkable year in Harvard labor relations.
Union Contract Negotiations Stall for Residents and Fellows at Mass General Brigham
Residents and fellows at Mass General Brigham began federal mediation with the hospital system last week to settle their first union contract, reaching a deadlock after 13 months of negotiations.
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