FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 29, 2026
PRESS CONTACT: Dr. J. Gregory Given
Harvard Faculty Union Files Federal Labor Charge Against University Administration
The charge, which comes as the Harvard Academic Workers (HAW-UAW) negotiates their first contract, alleges an illegal, unilateral increase of 50% to the workloads of teachers in the College’s Expository Writing Program.
CAMBRIDGE, MA – Harvard Academic Workers-UAW (HAW-UAW), a union of non-tenure-track teachers and researchers at Harvard University, has today filed an unfair labor practice charge against the Harvard University administration for unilateral changes in working conditions while bargaining. The charge focuses specifically on an announced increase in the size of sections in the Studio Sequence of the Expository Writing Program, two writing classes specifically targeted to first-year students who would benefit from more individualized attention in developing their academic writing skills.
Employers have a legal obligation to maintain status quo working conditions while a union is bargaining for its first contract. HAW-UAW won recognition in an election in April 2024, and has been bargaining with the Harvard administration since September of that year.
The change is a predictable outcome of the Harvard administration’s continued enforcement of “time caps”—arbitrary, hard term limits on academic appointments—alongside an ongoing hiring freeze and austerity budgeting that has led to a planned 25% reduction in non-tenure-track teaching positions. The HAW-UAW Bargaining Committee began warning the Harvard administration in March 2025 about the inevitable consequences of these policies. In a November 2025 bargaining session, the union specifically raised concerns about the possibility of understaffing in the Harvard College Writing Program, and reminded the administration of its obligation to bargain over changes to working conditions.
“For over a year we have been telling the administration that current policies would lead to a severe labor shortage in Expository Writing,” says Dr. J. Gregory Given, Preceptor in Expository Writing and member of the HAW-UAW Bargaining Committee. “The enrollments are consistent—the Program teaches almost all first-year students, every year—and so the staffing needs are consistent, too. The work of Expos is performed by non-tenure-track instructors precisely because it is among the most labor-intensive teaching assignments at the University. The administration’s cavalier attitude towards the structure of Expos Studio suggests a profound lack of interest in the integrity of its undergraduate instruction.”
The instructors who teach the Expository Writing classes (currently known as Preceptors) provide extensive, individualized feedback to students, both in writing and in one-on-one meetings, through a drafting and revision process. The illegal change to working conditions promises to substantially increase the burdens on Preceptors—equivalent to adding an additional course each semester to each Preceptor’s workload—reducing the amount of attention that Preceptors can focus on each student and thereby undercutting the integrity of the Studio program.
“Studio is more than a class. I see it as one way that Harvard fulfills its promise to students who never imagined they’d end up here. Some grew up in refugee camps, others are veterans, and many are first generation college students, like I was. All deserve to be here, but few arrive believing it,” says Dr. Amy Hanes, Preceptor in Expository Writing. “Studio changes that. Limiting classes to just 10 students means that while they’re building writing and analytical skills, they’re also building relationships. Knowing that they have the group’s support gives them the confidence to take chances on the page, see what they’re made of, and lets them know that this is where they belong.”
After receiving the union’s filing, the National Labor Relations Board will conduct an investigation and bring charges against the University Administration when they find merit. Hearings will then be conducted to get the information on the record and, if found guilty, the board will order the employer to make appropriate changes.
About HAW-UAW
Harvard Academic Workers (HAW-UAW) represents around 2600 non-tenure-track teachers and researchers in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard Divinity School, including Lecturers, Preceptors, Teaching Assistants, Postdoctoral Researchers, Research Scientists, and academic staff. (The union also represents a separate bargaining unit of around 100 clinical instructors at the Harvard Law School.) HAW-UAW won recognition through an NLRB-administered election in April 2024, with over 93% of participants voting in favor of union representation. The union has been bargaining a first contract with the Harvard administration since September 2024. The two sides have now held 37 bargaining sessions but have reached tentative agreement on only 14 contract articles.
About UAW
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) is one of the largest and most diverse unions in North America, with members in virtually every sector of the economy. UAW-represented workplaces include multinational corporations, small manufacturers, state and local governments, and colleges and universities, hospitals and private non-profit organizations. The UAW has more than 430,000 active members and more than 580,000 retired members in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The UAW represents roughly 100,000 higher education workers across the country, including 20,000 postdoctoral researchers, adjunct professors, and graduate workers in the Northeast who have chosen UAW representation in the last eight years.
Additional Quote
“Studio’s Q scores—a numerical ranking used to measure student satisfaction—and program evaluations are not only consistently excellent but highlight its status as a course that sets up students for success. Now, however, that entire process is at risk—thanks to an unnecessary pivot which threatens to undermine one of the most effective models that Harvard has for implementing academic rigor.” – Dr. Magaret Deli, Head Preceptor in Expository Writing.