FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

We are non-tenure-track academic workers at Harvard forming a union in order to improve our working conditions. While we span a wide array of academic fields, our commitment to research and teaching unites us. Our work plays a critical role in driving Harvard’s world-leading research and educational programs. We believe that joining together in a union will enable us to negotiate improvements to wages, benefits, and more that enhance our ability to provide quality instruction and research. As part of the UAW, we are also joining together with more than 100,000 teachers, researchers and other workers at major universities across the US, including Harvard, Columbia, University of Massachusetts, New York University, and the University of California already represented by the UAW.

A union is an organized group of workers who act collectively to build power and exert more democratic control over their working conditions. Through a union, workers can bargain collectively for improvements to wages, benefits, and other terms of employment through collective bargaining, and secure those improvements in a union contract.

Collective bargaining is a process that rebalances the power relationship between employees and their employer. Currently, without a union, Harvard sets the terms of our employment. Harvard can and does change these terms unilaterally, unfairly, and without our input or consent. Under collective bargaining, we elect representatives to negotiate with Harvard over the terms of our employment. When we reach an agreement with Harvard, workers vote on whether to ratify that agreement. When ratified, the agreement  becomes a legally-binding contract.

The point of having a union is simple. With a union, we non-tenure track (NTT) academic workers at Harvard gain power to improve our pay, benefits, and other working conditions through negotiation with the university administration. Without a union, Harvard administrators unilaterally set and modify our terms of employment without our input or consent. Tens of thousands of academic workers have formed unions and won improvements in recent years.

In our organizing at Harvard, we are bringing together and aim to represent non-tenure-track academic appointees across the whole university. This includes NTT teaching and research workers, such as lecturers, preceptors, instructors, research scientists, research associates, postdoctoral researchers, and others who do similar work, regardless of funding source.

Having external funding does not disqualify you from the right to representation. Many workers in our union hold positions funded by external sources such as research grants from the National Science Foundation or National Institutes of Health. But if Harvard is not your employer (e.g., if you work for the Smithsonian Institute at Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics, or work for a Harvard affiliated hospital instead of the university itself) or you have a supervisory or managerial role, you may not be eligible for representation by our union. If you have questions about your status, reach out to a union organizer in your department or contact us by email at harvardacademicworkers@gmail.com

The United Auto Workers (UAW) is a union of nearly 400,000 workers across diverse industries and sectors. The UAW encompasses over 100,000 academic workers across the United States, a figure that is growing all the time and includes more than 4,000 student workers here at Harvard.

The UAW has a strong presence in academia and in this region: 

Here in Boston, UAW includes the Harvard Graduate Student Union (UAW Local 5118), BU clerical and technical workers (UAW Local 2324) and active organizing campaigns for Boston College graduate workers (BCGEU-UAW) and Northeastern graduate workers (GENU-UAW). UMass graduate workers and adjunct faculty are also part of the UAW (Locals 2322 and 1596), and Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduate workers recently voted to join the UAW. 

UAW local unions in New York include NYU grad workers (GSOC-UAW Local 2110), NYU & New School adjuncts (ACT-UAW Local 7902), Barnard contingent faculty (BCF-UAW Local 2110), Columbia grad workers (GWC-UAW Local 2110), New School grad workers (SENS-UAW) and Columbia postdoctoral workers (UAW Local 4100). In Connecticut, graduate workers and postdoctoral researchers are represented by UAW Local 6950.  In New York City, for instance, over 10,000 academic workers have chosen to join the UAW in the last four years alone.

And beyond Boston and the Northeast there are tens of thousands of academic workers at the University of California, the California State Universities, and University of Washington (Locals 5810, 4123, and 4121) who are part of our union.

UAW members, officers, and staff are committed to supporting workers in all areas of higher education and have helped academic workers secure higher salaries, greater job security, and improved working conditions. They have also helped workers successfully negotiate with the Harvard administration, and are well positioned to understand the complexities of our situation and our possible avenues of redress.

1. The process begins with OUTREACH across the university: we talk to each other to better understand our common interests and shared concerns and build an organizing committee that has participants from across campus. 
2. We then launch a CARD DRIVE where workers sign cards authorizing HAW-UAW to represent us in collective bargaining with Harvard over our wages, benefits, working conditions, and the terms of our employment.
3. Once a majority of NTT workers have signed union authorization cards for HAW-UAW, we can ask Harvard to VOLUNTARILY RECOGNIZE our union and begin bargaining, or we can submit a petition to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a vote on unionization. We will make the strategic decision that makes the most sense for our campaign at that juncture. If our union is certified, either through voluntary recognition or an NLRB election, Harvard will have a legal obligation to bargain in good faith with HAW-UAW. 
4. We hold BARGAINING COMMITTEE ELECTIONS and choose representatives from our ranks to study current working conditions, coordinate negotiations, and communicate with us about the process.
5. The bargaining committee surveys us and works to DRAFT GOALS FOR NEGOTIATION that reflect our needs, concerns, and priorities.
6. We vote to approve GOALS FOR NEGOTIATION and ensure that the bargaining committee is working to secure meaningful gains for all of us.
7. With the support and resources of our union, the UAW, the bargaining committee works to reach a collective bargaining agreement through NEGOTIATION with Harvard.

Many academic unions cover employees with diverse interests. At universities across the United States, academic workers in the UAW have negotiated strong contracts that cover different titles, schools and departments. These contracts address issues that affect all workers, such as health, dental and vision benefits, guaranteed annual pay increases, and sick leave and family benefits, while simultaneously including provisions that may be important to a particular group or section of the workforce.

Absolutely. The work authorization you have as an international worker in the US brings with it a number of workplace rights, including the same right as domestic workers to join and/or form a union with your coworkers. International workers have already belonged to NTT unions for years at Columbia, the University of California, the University of Washington, and dozens of other schools. You can read about workplace rights for international workers here. There are versions in languages other than English available here.

Collective bargaining is a democratic, worker-led process. We NTT workers are the union; we are in charge. We work together to shape the process, determine our priorities, and set terms for negotiation. The full union membership must democratically approve any agreement reached by the Harvard administration and our elected bargaining team before it becomes a legally binding contract.

First, you can sign an authorization card to register your support for unionization and encourage your coworkers to sign a card as well. You can also make a testimonial explaining why you want a union. There are many other ways you can join our efforts, from organizing in your department or others, participating in one of our subcommittees, and more. If you want to get more involved with this campaign, please contact us.

Ultimately, you decide how involved you want to be, and in what ways. But each new supporter improves our chances of success. Our union is an organization run democratically by its members, and the more we support our union in ways big and small, the stronger we are together.