Following a strong SAV vote in support of a fair contract and an eventual strike, we had 3 eventful bargaining sessions in August. For the first time Harvard Admin showed some willingness to discuss harassment protections and we see a path forward in some of our most important articles for job security. However Admin is still persisting on insulting compensation proposals.
Recent movement by Admin shows our strike pressure is working, but it’s not enough yet. In the next few months the bargaining committee will make a final effort to avoid a strike. But we need you to prepare for one if the administration forces our hand. Show them you are ready, because the more you do, the more they will do to avoid it.
Read below for more details. As always, the Bargaining Committee welcomes your feedback. Email us at hawuawbc@gmail.com if you want to discuss any of this.
**Our next bargaining session is on Monday 8/31 11am–2pm. Bargaining is open to any HAW worker who has registered to observe at least once. If you haven’t already, you can register here.**
In solidarity,
HAW-UAW Bargaining Committee
More details about the 8/5, 8/17 and 8/24 sessions.
For almost 2 years, Admin refused any discussion over Protections Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying while issues around harassment remain rampant. But, for the first time, and we think because of our strike pressure, Admin finally engaged with us. Instead of dismissing the need for this article altogether, Admin listened to us and we had a productive discussion. It remains to be seen what movement —if any— they will make. We will undoubtedly need to keep up the pressure.
In their latest counter on Compensations, Admin declared that they think we deserve no better than a 3% raise each year for the next 4 years, completely dismissing years of insufficient and frozen salaries. Moreover, they think that minimum salaries should only grow by 1.5%/year, ensuring future workers’ salaries will sag further behind inflation. Admin’s counters also negate guaranteed paid leave for workers experiencing abuse. All of this is unacceptable for our workers.
Both sides exchanged new counters on Titles and Classifications, Workloads, Promotions and Professional Standing. We believe the latest versions can bring us close to an agreement on many aspects of this package. We delineated 2 new lecturer classifications to encompass all existing lecturers and preceptors, and are working to limit workloads to no worse than status quo. But we oppose Admin modifying and creating new job classifications as it wants, as it would allow them to bypass the conditions on our contract. And most importantly, Admin is still refusing to recognize stipendees as Harvard workers.
In better news, Admin agreed to dental insurance for TAs (see Health Benefits)! We also reached agreement on our Non-Retaliation article protecting our members’ right to union activity. Finally, HAW’s Bargaining Committee is now full with 7 new members after a successful election. See the email sent out on 8/25 for more info.
Finally, we are sad to report that Leslie Fernandez, one of the bargaining Committee’s founding members has been laid off as part of Harvard’s ongoing efforts to reduce the University’s workforce with layoffs and hiring freezes. Admin did not follow proper procedures for the layoff of a union worker, claiming instead Leslie is not actually part of our union due to erroneously classifying them as a supervisor. We will fight for them as we would for any worker laid off unfairly.
If you want to read all versions of the contract articles, go here (there may be some delay in updating all files).