The Washington Post

Bloomberg Law

Bargaining teams for the University and its graduate student union reached a tentative one-year contract Monday, which they will now unanimously recommend to union members for ratification.

WBUR

…But the deal at Harvard is modest in scope. It doesn’t include some prominent demands that emerged during almost two years of bargaining, in particular the right for student-workers to bring complaints of harassment and discrimination to a neutral process of arbitration. And if ratified, it will last only until June 2021.

Inside Higher Ed

Harvard University and its United Auto Workers-affiliated graduate student union this week reached a tentative agreement on a first union contract.

The Harvard Gazette

After months of negotiations, Harvard University and the leadership of the Harvard Graduate Student Union United Auto Workers (HGSU-UAW) representing more than 4,000 members, have agreed to the terms of a one-year contract that embraces a wide range of benefits and protections for graduate and undergraduate employees in all Schools, Provost Alan M. Garber said in an email to University faculty on Monday.

Boston Globe

Harvard University and the Harvard Graduate Students Union reached a tentative agreement Monday for their first contract, a one-year deal the union said was a “major victory” not only for its more than 4,000 members, “but also for the graduate student worker movement across the country.”

The Harvard Crimson

Dissent Magazine
Epidemiology Students at Harvard Want a Contract
Harvard University made headlines when it was shamed into returning $9 million in federal stimulus funding from the coronavirus relief package after public backlash rose against elite academic institutions gobbling up federal aid.

May 1 marked two years since the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers (HGSU-UAW) was certified after Harvard graduate students voted to unionize.

The Harvard Crimson

United States Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and U.S. Representative Andrew S. Levin (D-Mich.) called on Harvard and its graduate student union to set apart their differences and settle the union’s first labor contract in a virtual conversation posted to Twitter in late April.

The Harvard Crimson
‘This Can Be Career-Ending’: Graduate Students Face Uncertainty with Job Opportunities Due to Coronavirus Pandemic
As graduate students approach the end of their programs at Harvard, many students have expressed uncertainty about their post-graduation employment prospects due to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The Harvard Crimson
Grad Union Expresses Concerns with Workload, Health Care, and Research During Pandemic
Student workers said they are concerned about workload protections, health care, and research opportunities during the coronavirus pandemic, given the absence of a contract between Harvard and its graduate student union.

The Harvard Independent
Solidarity Forever
In December 2019, Harvard’s graduate students went on strike, demanding better pay, robust health benefits, and a more reliable harassment grievance process. The Independent spoke several times to Matt Volpe, a member of the HGSU-UAW union and fourth-year graduate student in the Chemistry department, to see how his feelings about the union’s efforts changed as the strike went on. He told us a tale of a union which went on strike to achieve very particular goals in a very particular contract, but ended up benefiting much more from the growth, both internally and in their relationships with other labor groups, afforded by the increased visibility during the action.

The Harvard Crimson
Generosity for Graduate Students
The COVID-19 pandemic has left members of the Harvard community in need of institutional support. Recently, Harvard and the graduate student union reached a tentative agreement limiting graduate students to 20 hours of average weekly work. But so many graduate students need so much more. Indeed, there are outstanding calls from graduate students for student loan relief and a fully-funded “bridge year” for Ph.D. students.

The Harvard Crimson
Harvard Grad Union Reaches Tentative Workload Agreement With University, Calls for Fully-Funded ‘Bridge Year’
Harvard and its graduate student union signed a tentative agreement setting a maximum limit on student workers’ weekly hours after a virtual back-and-forth last week, union representative Ege Yumusak ’16 announced in an email to members Thursday.

The Harvard Crimson
GSAS to Compensate Graduate Student Employees for Spring 2020, With Lingering Summer Funding Question
Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences announced last week that graduate student employees will receive compensation for the spring 2020 semester even if the University’s new policies to combat the spread of COVID-19 leave them unable to continue their normal work.

Harvard Political Review
The University as a Battleground
On December 3, thousands of graduate and undergraduate student-workers represented by the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers went on strike. Bundled in winter coats and sporting “UAW On Strike” signs, strikers picketed, marched, and rallied in falling snow and pouring rain.

Boston.com
Harvard shutdown causes strain for low-income students
When Harvard announced its plans to close campus and move classes online amid the coronavirus outbreak, Jordan Barton was left with a lot of questions. He’s a first generation, low-income student from rural Texas, and thanks to an on-campus job, he saved enough to cover the emergency move. But he said it cost him.

The Harvard Crimson
Harvard Union Respond to School Closures Due to Coronavirus
Three of Harvard’s labor unions are forming contingency plans and cancelling events after Harvard announced Tuesday that it would send undergraduates home for the remainder of the semester and hold classes online due to the global coronavirus outbreak.

The Harvard Crimson
Panelists Criticize Harvard’s Negotiations with Grad Student Union at IOP Event
Former New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse and President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Sara Nelson criticized Harvard for its stance in ongoing negotiations with Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers at an Institute of Politics event Wednesday.

The Harvard Crimson
Harvard and Grad Union Reach New Bargaining Agreements One Month After Strike Ends
Harvard and its graduate student union reached three new tentative contract provisions — including agreements on holidays, employee assistance, and parking and transportation benefits — in their most recent mediated bargaining session last week.

The Harvard Crimson
Sanders’ New Senate Bill Could Protect Graduate Student Workers’ Employee Rights from Proposed NLRB Ruling, Experts Say
Senator Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) has introduced a new bill which — if passed — could protect graduate student workers’ employee rights from a proposed National Labor Relations Board rule that would classify graduate student workers as non-employees, experts say.

The Harvard Crimson
Dominguez Accusers Criticize Harvard’s External Review During Panel
Four women who have accused former Government professor Jorge I. Domínguez of sexual misconduct criticized Harvard’s external review of the circumstances that enabled the misconduct during a panel Monday.

The Harvard Crimson
Graduate Students Head Back to Work as HGSU Negotiations Continue
With the first week of classes underway, members of the Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Automobile Workers strike traded in their picket signs for syllabi and resumed their roles as teaching fellows.

The Harvard Crimson
Grad Union Strike Delays Grading in Some Courses
Harvard’s graduate student union strike has delayed the release of final grades in some fall semester courses, according to faculty. Much of the responsibility for grading in courses at the College falls on graduate student teaching assistants, many of whom are members of Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers. HGSU-UAW went on strike on the final day of classes, Dec. 3, over an impasse in contract negotiations with the University.

The Harvard Crimson
As Harvard Graduate Students Return to Work, Experts Talk Future of Negotiations
As members of Harvard’s graduate student union return to work after nearly a month on strike, labor experts say the union may have ended their record-setting demonstrations due to a variety of factors, including economic pressure and growing hopes of reaching a contract agreement. Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Automobile Workers representatives announced in an email to union members Monday that strikers would return to work Jan. 1 without reaching a contract with the University.

USA Today
Graduate students at Harvard end strike but are still waiting on pay raises, new benefits
BOSTON – Harvard University graduate student workers ended their campuswide strike after 29 days on the picket line, returning to work Wednesday even though union leaders and the university have not reached an agreement. Without a new contract, the impact of the strike is unclear. Still, a union representing the school’s graduate student employees hailed the strike as a victory, pointing to agreements in negotiations and a statement last month from Harvard that named the end of January as a possibility for inking a contract.

The Boston Globe
Joe Kennedy III marches with striking Harvard graduate students
US Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III marched in solidarity with striking Harvard University graduate student workers on Saturday morning, supporting their demands for better pay and benefits and greater protections against sexual harassment and discrimination.

The Boston Globe
The working class battles The Man in Harvard strike
The steps of Harvard’s Widener Library might not be the obvious setting for a showdown between the working class and The Man. But so it was last week. The afternoon that I stopped by, perhaps 100 graduate students in the third day of a strike were protesting against what they consider the university’s unfair labor practices. Their union of 4,500 students has been bargaining fruitlessly for 13 months. They are demanding higher pay, better health care, and greater protections against harassment and discrimination.

The Boston Globe
Harvard grad students to go on strike Tuesday
Thousands of Harvard’s graduate student workers are preparing to go on strike Tuesday after failing to reach a contract agreement with university officials on compensation and workplace protections after negotiating for more than a year. The graduate students union posted on Facebook Monday night that the “indefinite strike begins at midnight tonight. Join us on the picket lines starting [Tuesday] morning at 10 a.m. in Harvard Yard to fight for a better future for all student workers!”

The Wall Street Journal
Harvard Student Workers Go on Strike
Graduate-student workers at Harvard University went on strike after they were unable to reach agreement with the Ivy League school over contract issues including pay, health coverage and protections against sexual harassment and discrimination.

The Boston Globe
Harvard graduate students deserve a fair contract
During my first year at Harvard Law School, a professor of mine won a prestigious academic award. The prize, he told us, was a research grant so large he didn’t know what to do with it. Did we have any suggestions?

Associated Press
Harvard grad students strike over pay, health, protections
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard University’s graduate students are going on strike after failing to reach a labor contract with the administration. A union representing the school’s graduate students began picketing Tuesday after more than a year of negotiations.

CommonWealth
Why we’re ready to strike
AFTER A YEAR of negotiating with the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers, Harvard administrators propose to leave all the policies in place that enable powerful abusers. By setting a strike deadline for December 3, student workers are refusing to accept the status quo.

The Harvard Crimson
Harvard Grad Student Union Will Strike If Contract Not Reached Before Reading Period
Harvard’s graduate student union announced Tuesday morning that it will strike if negotiations are unable to reach a contract with the University by Dec. 3.
Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers informed their members of the impending deadline in an email Tuesday morning. The union informed the University of its “strong mandate” to finalize a contract this semester during a bargaining session Oct. 30, according to the email.

WGBH
Unionized graduate students at Harvard say they planned to go on strike next month
if they cannot come to terms on a contract with the school.The Harvard graduate student Union says it set a deadline of December third, the final day of classes for the fall semester. Harvard administrators say they are approaching negotiations in good faith the car on the potential strike unwanted sticking points in contract negotiations have been basic issues like pay and health insurance as was how discrimination and harassment complaints should be handled.

WBUR
Harvard graduate student workers say they will strike
if the University does not reach a contract agreement with the union by December third. The graduate student Union says it wants higher pay better health care and protection against discrimination and harassment. Havard says it’s working in good faith in the negotiations.

The Boston Globe
Harvard graduate student union votes to authorize a strike
More than 2,000 unionized graduate student workers at Harvard University have voted to authorize a strike, after a year of negotiations with administrators failed to produce an agreement on a contract.
The vote, which began last week and ended Friday with a tally of 2,425 yes votes and 254 nos, gives the union bargaining committee authority to call a strike but set no date for a decision. Roughly 4,000 members were eligible to vote, according to the union.

The Harvard Crimson
More Than 90 Percent of Harvard Grad Student Union Voters Approve Strike Authorization
Harvard’s graduate student union passed its strike authorization vote Friday by an overwhelming majority — with more than 90 percent of voters in support — granting its bargaining committee the power to call a strike when it deems necessary.

ABC News
Harvard graduate students authorize a strike; no date set
Graduate students at Harvard University have voted to authorize a strike, but no date has been set for any walkout.
The union represents close to 5,000 teaching and research assistants. It says it is at an impasse with the school on issues including pay, benefits and protections from discrimination.

The Harvard Crimson
Harvard Graduate Union to Hold Strike Authorization Vote
Harvard’s graduate student union will hold a strike authorization vote, the group announced in an email to members Tuesday morning. This step moves the union — Harvard Graduate Students-United Automobile Workers — one step closer to a strike, which could only follow an authorization vote backed by two-thirds of its voting members. The vote will begin Oct. 15, exactly one year after the contract negotiations with the University began, according to the email from the union’s bargaining committee.

The Harvard Crimson
UC Supports Grad Union Strike Authorization Vote
The Undergraduate Council endorsed the graduate student union’s strike authorization vote and other initiatives at its Monday afternoon meeting. The Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Automobile Workers announced last week that it would hold a strike authorization vote. If two-thirds of voting members approve the use of a strike, the union’s bargaining committee would have the power to call for a strike whenever it deemed necessary. Voting for the strike authorization begins Tuesday, Oct. 15, which marks the one-year anniversary of the first bargaining session between Harvard and the union.

The Harvard Gazette
Level of campus sexual violence largely unchanged, survey says
Last April, the University convened the Harvard Student Survey on Sexual Assault & Misconduct, a tool designed to continue to guide policies that encourage a healthy, safe, and nondiscriminatory environment across campus. Today, Harvard announced the results to that survey in an email from President Larry Bacow.

The Boston Globe
Warren stands with BC grad students in union fight
Boston College graduate students fighting for union recognition from the Jesuit institution have received a morale boost from Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren.

Common Wealth Magazine
Boston’s academic giants treat student workers poorly
MORE THAN 10,000 student workers at Boston’s largest universities drive tens of millions of dollars to their employers. They teach classes, perform groundbreaking research, and help win lucrative federal grants. You would think their employers would protect their valuable employees.

WBZ Boston
I-Team: Harvard Students Say World-Class School Has World-Class #MeToo Problem
CAMBRIDGE (CBS) – In the halls of what some consider the country’s most prestigious academic institution, a young graduate student says she’s dodging a predator. “There are times I see this person outside of the department and one time, like, I went and threw up.” The woman spoke to the I-Team’s Christina Hager but she did not want to be identified.

Harvard Magazine
Dolores Huerta on the Power to Change
Huerta stood up to make one more statement. “I have a request of you,” she said. “Alumni here, of Harvard, please address the [Harvard] president, say, ‘Sign that contract with your workers,’ okay?” (a reference to University negotiations with the Harvard Graduate Student Union).

The Boston Globe
City Council hearing will address student workers’ rights
Graduate students from several colleges will address the Boston City Council on Thursday to petition for better working conditions, saying they are subjected to low wages, inadequate health care, and a lack of protection from harassment and discrimination.

Newsweek
Senator Bernie Sanders Throws Support Behind Boston Graduate Student Workers
Presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted his support for student workers in Massachusetts on Tuesday. It was the type of recognition the students credited with possibly influencing their schools to come to the bargaining table as they push for changes in how they are compensated for on-campus work.

The Harvard Crimson
Harvard, Boston Area Graduate Students Testify at Boston City Council Hearing on Student-Worker Labor
Boston City Council hosted a hearing Thursday night for members of local graduate student workers – including members of Harvard’s graduate student union – to discuss their efforts to gain recognition and negotiate contracts at their respective schools.

The Boston Globe
Prominent professor warned Harvard of sex harassment threat to grad students
As Harvard University grapples with its failure to address decades of sexual misconduct by a former professor, some faculty and graduate students say they have been pressing for at least a year for greater urgency in changing a culture of tolerating “open secrets” on campus.

NY Times
Harvard Harassment Case Brings Calls for External Review and Cultural Change
More than a year has passed since the resignation of Jorge Domínguez, a Harvard government professor who was accused of sexually harassing more than a dozen female students and junior faculty members over decades.

The Boston Globe
In the wake of harassment case, Harvard report finds ‘prolonged institutional failure’
For decades, Harvard government students warned each other to wear heavy clothing and avoid late-afternoon appointments with the university’s renowned Cuba expert and one-time vice provost Jorge Dominguez to fend off his inappropriate behavior. But little was done, in what an internal report now calls a “deplorable situation” and a “prolonged institutional failure.”

Inside Higher Ed
‘Prolonged Institutional Failure’ at Harvard
A report by Harvard University‘s government department has found a “deplorable situation” and a “prolonged institutional failure” in the way the department ignored allegations that a prominent scholar there harassed women, The Boston Globe reported. The behavior of Jorge Dominguez was an “open secret” but ignored, the report said. Dominguez retired last year after reports of his actions. He declined to comment to the Globe about the department’s report.

The Harvard Crimson
Harvard Gov Dept Climate Committee Finds ‘Prolonged Institutional Failure’ in Final Report
Nearly 14 months after multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against Government Professor Emeritus Jorge I. Dominguez resurfaced, the Government committee responsible for scrutinizing departmental culture released a final report concluding it failed to provide a safe work environment for its affiliates.

WCVB
‘Prolonged institutional failure:’ Scathing Harvard report on sexual misconduct
A new report paints a scathing picture of sexual misconduct allegations at Harvard University. An internal review calls the situation involving a new retired member of the Ivy League school’s faculty a “prolonged institutional failure.”

AP
Harvard grad student union stages sit-in over labor dispute
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — A union for Harvard University graduate students is staging a campus sit-in to pressure the school to meet its labor demands.

The Washington Post
Harvard’s graduate student union demands better sexual harassment protections
Harvard University is at odds with its graduate student union over the way the school handles sexual harassment claims, a fight that will soon make its way to the airwaves.

Newsweek
Harvard Grad students occupy university building over union contract: ‘They are not listing’
The Harvard Graduate Students Union-UAW held a sit-in on Wednesday inside University Hall to pressure the Ivy League college to offer what the union considered to be a fair contract.

Inside Higher Ed
‘Long-Standing Pattern of Behavior’
Harvard revokes emeritus status and retirement privileges from professor who was found to have harassed women for decades.

The Washington Post
Graduate Student Union to Air National TV Ads on Harvard Sexual Harassment Protections
This Thursday, Harvard’s graduate student union will air video ads on prime-time national television criticizing the University’s response to sexual harassment complaints, according to a union press release…

Harvard Crimson
Harvard’s graduate student union demands better sexual harassment protections
Harvard University is at odds with its graduate student union over the way the school handles sexual harassment claims, a fight that will soon make its way to the airwaves…

The Harvard Law Record
Voting #UnionYes Because #TimesUp
The Dominguez reports prove that students can’t just rely on Harvard to follow Title IX and fight sexual harassment on campus…

Harvard Magazine
Sexual Harassment and Assault Reports Increase in 2018
Disclosures of potential sexual and gender-based harassment increased by 55 percent from fiscal year 2017 to FY 2018, and formal complaints increased by 7 percent…

NY Times
Harvard Professor Resigns Amid Allegations of Sexual Harassment
A prominent government professor at Harvard who has been accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by as many as 18 women over several decades resigned on Tuesday…

WCVB
Harvard student suing university for ignoring sexual harassment complaints
She says she lived in fear, claiming Harvard University ignored more than a dozen complaints about sexual harassment.

HuffPost
Harvard Forced Sexual Assault Victim to Live By Abuser, Lawsuit Claims
Harvard University forced a victim of dating violence to live in the same dorm as her abuser for several months and did not act on multiple reports of ongoing harassment by him, a new lawsuit claims.

AP
Harvard diving coach accused of sexual misconduct
Harvard University’s diving coach has been accused of soliciting female athletes at an Indiana diving camp for nude photos and sending them photos of himself.

Metro
Advocates demand external review of sexual assault complaints against Harvard professor
Harvard has not agreed to go public with sexual misconduct claims Government professor Jorge Dominguez until their internal investigation is completed.

Harvard Crimson
Harvard, Hear Us: We Need a Contract for Gender Equity
If Harvard is serious about promoting gender equity, it should agree to a union contract that includes strong discrimination and harassment protections.

Inside Higher Ed
Harvard Economist Found to Have Harassed Lab Workers
Roland G. Fryer Jr., Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University and faculty director of the Education Innovation Laboratory, created a hostile work environment for women, full of sexual talk…

Mass Live
Harvard diving coach Chris Heaton resigns amid sexual harassment accusations
The head coach of Harvard’s diving program Chris Heaton resigned Tuesday, days after he was placed on leave amid allegations that he solicited nude photographs from female swimmers…