strike day 1: graduate students start picketing at Harvard Yard and Longwood | New
Cries of “What do we want?” Contract! When do we want it? Now! â€Echoed on campus Wednesday as the Harvard Graduate Students Union launched a three-day strike, its second walkout in two years.
After failing to strike a contractual deal with the University on Tuesday, Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Automobile Workers began strike with delivery pickets at the Science Center at 6 a.m., and picketing continued in the yard and the Longwood campus until 4 p.m.
Hardworking students and their supporters called on Harvard to increase pay, add more third-party oversight to discrimination and harassment complaint procedures, and agree to a shopping agency, in which all students represented by HGSU-UAW would be mandated to pay union dues. .
Despite the stormy weather, simultaneous picket lines formed after 9 a.m. in front of William James Hall and Johnston Gate. Before classes began at 10:30 a.m., the strikers and their supporters formed a picket line at the Science Center and Sanders Theater, before moving to Matthews, Mass., And University Halls.
At noon, strikers flocked to the Science Center Plaza, where prominent union members and elected officials gave speeches to the crowd. A large inflatable pig smoking a cigar with dollar bills in its pocket loomed above the gathering.
HGSU-UAW President Brandon J. Mancilla said in an interview that the pig represents “the greed of Harvard”.
During the rally, Marianna K. Linz ’11, professor of environmental sciences and engineering, said that she could not in good conscience attend the diversity awareness and student recruitment events. on behalf of Harvard when the University did not have “a mechanism to combat racial harassment.” HGSU-UAW is currently seeking third-party arbitration for discrimination and harassment complaints not related to Title IX or gender and sex, as well as other protections for Title IX cases.
“As a member of [University of California] postdoc union, when I was at UCLA this procedure existed, â€Linz said. “It exists for other unions: for NYU, for the University of Michigan – it’s not radical, it’s rational.”
Harvard spokesman Jason A. Newton declined to comment on the union’s proposal, but noted that HGSU-UAW’s first contract provides for union representation on academic task forces to address racial discrimination and d other types of discrimination.
Other speakers included the representative of the State of Mass. Michael L. Connolly and Cambridge City Councilors Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Mark C. McGovern, who told the cheering crowd that Cambridge City Council officially supported HGSU-UAW.
Subsequently, the strikers moved into the Science Center, blocking entry to large classes such as Chemistry 17: “Principles of Organic Chemistry”, Math 21a: “Multivariate Calculus” and Psychology 1: “Introduction to Psychological Science.” They then picketed at Emerson Hall, Smith Campus Center and 124 Mt. Auburn St., where the Labor and Employee Relations Office is located, before finishing at Science Center Plaza.
On Wednesday evening, HGSU-UAW emailed members an update following its negotiation session with the University.
“During our mediated negotiation session, the university arrived without a counter-offer and made it clear that it had no intention of moving,” the email read. “Our bargaining team has made it clear that at this time our members will not accept any contract that does not have a significant movement.”
—Writers Kelsey J. Griffin, Kevin A. Simauchi and Mayesha R. Soshi contributed reporting.
—Editor Cara J. Chang can be contacted at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @ CaraChang20.
– Editor-in-Chief Kate N. Guerin can be contacted at [email protected]
—Editor-in-Chief Meimei Xu can be contacted at [email protected] Follow her on Twitter @ MeimeiXu7.