On Monday, we held our twelfth bargaining session with the University administration. Unfortunately, they returned only two counter-proposals, despite the fact that we await responses on over twenty proposed articles. Here is a rundown of the five proposals that changed hands, and the one tentative agreement reached:

We began the session by signing a tentative agreement on an article covering the Employee Assistance Program. This article will ensure our workers’ continued access to this program and the benefits it provides.

The administration returned two counter-proposals:

  • Grievance and Arbitration: After many passes back and forth, we believe that we are very close to reaching a tentative agreement on this foundational element of our contract. Among our most important wins are a longer filing time limit and the removal of two unnecessary steps, pushed by management, that would have made grievances more expensive for us.
  • Non-Citizen Workers Rights: In this first counter-proposal, we won paid leave for visa renewals and other immigration proceedings. But the administration struck out the vast majority of our concrete proposals, reasserting the status quo. They removed provisions that would help workers joining Harvard from abroad, explaining that they do not consider workers to be covered by our contract until after their visas have been issued. They also struck numerous provisions that would assist workers during complex immigration situations, arguing that the administration has no responsibility to offer legal advice to University Employees.

We returned three counter-proposals:

  • Flexible Working Conditions: In this counter we sought to lay out a process by which workers can request to establish or modify flexwork arrangements, as well as to guarantee workers redress if they are unfairly denied such arrangements by supervisors.
  • Job Postings: We reasserted several provisions that the administration had struck in their last counter, most notably the requirements that the Administration provide current Harvard Employees early access to postings for new jobs in our unit and that formerly “timed out” workers who apply and qualify for an in-unit position are guaranteed an interview.
  • Access to Services: We believe that we are getting close to an agreement on this article. Although we have now won workers library and email access for 30 days after the end of their appointments, we have re-asserted the need for this access to extend to 90 days. This will ensure continuity of access to services for workers on short appointments, enabling curricular planning and scholarly work between semesters.

Finally, at the close of the session we voiced our strong concerns about the ongoing University-wide hiring freeze, as well as the administration’s broader responses to anticipated financial and political pressure. We reminded the administration that we are on the front lines of fulfilling the University’s teaching and research missions, and among the members of the University who are most vulnerable to the damages of financial austerity and political attack—especially given the fact that a vast proportion of our unit (likely a majority) are non-citizen workers.

In this context, we asked a number of pointed questions about the processes whereby exceptions are being granted to the hiring freezes, about how research appointments might continue to be funded if grants are cut, and about what measures the administration will take to protect and support its non-citizen workers. The administration’s response to most of our questions was to plead ignorance. Whether there is yet no plan, or the administration’s bargaining team simply isn’t read-in on the plan, we’ll keep pressing for answers.

If a supervisor or administrator tells you that they cannot protect your job or renew your appointment due to ongoing union negotiations, they are wrong. In fact, we are doing everything we can to fight layoffs, protect non-citizen workers, and advance a moratorium on time caps. Please write us at hawuawbc@gmail.com to report any such conversations!

In solidarity,

The Harvard Academic Workers FAS/HMS/HDS Bargaining Committee