UAW Applauds Recent Legal Victories Led by Academic Workers Bargaining for Fair Contracts at Harvard

The UAW applauds last week’s ruling that the Trump administration’s cancellation of $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard University is unconstitutional. The UAW and AAUP were plaintiffs in the first lawsuit filed against these cuts, which paved the way for Harvard University to file its own lawsuit 10 days later. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs’ decision in both cases is an important step to affirm academic freedom and establish that the future of federal science funding our members depend on cannot be leveraged to undermine higher education.

Responding immediately to the Trump administration’s attacks, UAW members in higher education have led a national campaign to kill the cuts to federal research funding and protect academic freedom. The federal administration’s threats would have a catastrophic impact on lifesaving medical research and the livelihoods of tens of thousands of UAW members. Moreover, the ideologically motivated attack on university curriculums strikes against everything our members stand for as scholars and instructors to their students. UAW members at Harvard helped win these lawsuits by providing testimony demonstrating how arbitrary and harmful the funding cuts have been. Union members have organized rallies and engaged elected officials to ensure federal science funding is maintained despite Trump’s attempts to slash spending. 

At the same time that the Trump administration targeted Harvard’s federal funding, UAW members at Harvard have been fighting for secure and dignified working conditions at the bargaining table. The UAW represents four units at Harvard consisting of over 8,000 workers, which include graduate and undergraduate workers, postdoctoral researchers, lecturers, instructors, and core facility scientists, as well as law school clinical instructors. The Harvard Graduate Students Union-UAW Local 5118 is bargaining a successor contract, while the Harvard Academic Workers (postdocs, lecturers, and Harvard Law School clinical workers) and the Harvard Undergraduate Workers Union are fighting for their first contract after successfully winning recognition. Members are united around fighting for fair wages, protections against harassment and discrimination, and job security.

We will continue to organize so that the progress achieved with the decisions that secure Harvard’s funding translate into gains at the bargaining table. Workers at Harvard have led the fight against the Trump administration, and we urge the Harvard administration to heed the members’ demands and finalize agreements that recognize our labor.