Harvard Grad Workers Reach Union Agreement

Harvard University and its United Auto Workers-affiliated graduate student union this week reached a tentative agreement on a first union contract. The deal, which still has to be ratified by union members, only lasts for a year. In that way, it’s a weaker agreement than those between some other graduate student unions and their institutions of late. But union leaders see it as an initial victory and one that will guarantee graduate student workers more stability in an unstable time. The contract includes some COVID-19-related health and safety assurances, protections against discrimination and harassment, and more job security for international student workers. In a campus memo, Provost Alan Garber said that the agreement “appropriately addresses the employment-related concerns of our student workers, while also ensuring the integrity of the university’s research and teaching mission.”