1,300 Harvard Academic Workers Sign Petition Demanding Union Contract

Nearly 1,300 non-tenure-track faculty signed a petition and delivered it to Harvard’s top brass at Massachusetts Hall on Thursday, demanding a union contract “as soon as possible” and accusing the University of slow-walking negotiations amid financial uncertainty.

Harvard Academic Workers-United Auto Workers, which represented 3,600 non-tenure-track faculty at the start of this year, has been negotiating its first contract since September 2024. But they are nowhere near an agreement — Harvard negotiators and the union have only tentatively agreed to eight provisions after more than 25 bargaining sessions.

Roughly 30 workers delivered the petition while marching from the Biological Laboratories to Harvard’s Office of Labor and Employment Relations in Harvard Square. A separate contingent of roughly 15 workers delivered the same petition to Harvard Medical School Dean George Q. Daley.

“Our membership is facing the devastating impact of government attacks on higher education and Harvard’s austerity policies,” the petition read. “Cuts to funding, hiring freezes, time caps, and layoffs are direct assaults on the core mission of this university.”

Union members also presented Harvard’s bargaining team with the petition at the beginning of the Thursday bargaining session. According to bargaining committee member Adam Sychla, Harvard negotiators said the talks were progressing at a consistent pace.

Still, progress has been slow. Union members received a wage proposal from the University last month, but HAW-UAW refuses to consider the pay structure until they hammer out worker titles and classifications.

In the meantime, departments have struggled as workers on time caps — which limit non-tenure track appointments to two, three, or eight years — leave the University without replacement workers amid a hiring freeze. Harvard has repeatedly rejected a proposal asking to suspend the caps while workers bargain their contract.

During the march, union members chanted, “My neck, my back, time caps are wicked wack.”

Leaders of the Harvard Academic Workers union deliver a petition demanding a contract, to Harvard Administration officials.​​​​​​ By Megan L. Blonigen

At Thursday’s bargaining session, Harvard and the union tentatively agreed to require departments to list job openings for all in-unit positions online and in print. Harvard also countered a union proposal on non-retaliation, nixing much of the union’s specific language on the types of retaliation against employees for labor activities.

Harvard spokesperson Jason A. Newton declined to comment on the petition and bargaining session, referring The Crimson to an Oct. 2 statement made after Harvard presented its wage proposal to the union last month.

“Members of the Harvard Academic Workers union have a significant role in how the University fulfills its teaching and research mission, and Harvard remains committed to engaging in these ongoing negotiations in good faith and to providing support and resources for them to carry out their work, even during these challenging times,” Newton wrote.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at hugo.chiasson@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.

—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at amann.mahajan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.