Harvard Non-Tenure Track Researchers & Faculty Join Grad Workers on Strike
Harvard Academic Workers, non-tenure-track researchers and teachers including postdocs and contingent faculty at Harvard University (HAW-UAW), went on strike this morning after the administration failed to reach agreement with them on a first contract. The union has filed several Unfair Labor Practice charges against the university regarding the withholding of raises from unionized workers and making unilateral changes to working conditions.
Non-tenure track researchers and faculty power Harvard’s research and teaching missions across nearly every department, from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to Immunology to General Education. They teach and mentor undergraduate and graduate students, perform ground-breaking research, and help run Harvard’s core research facilities. Despite their contributions, many struggle to make ends meet after two years of frozen wages and high inflation, compounded by steep increases in health care premiums.
Last month, Harvard announced that its endowment grew by $11 billion in FY2026. Yet, the Harvard Corporation offered workers a 3.5% raise and a one-time 1% ratification bonus. Workers, whose wages have been frozen since July 2024, are calling for fair raises, functional childcare subsidies, enforceable protections against harassment and discrimination, and a strong, inclusive union.
“We don’t want to strike, but Harvard’s administration has left us no choice. After two years of frozen wages and protracted negotiations, along with high inflation and endowment growth of over ten billion dollars, Harvard is still refusing to compensate us fairly for the value we provide to the University. The Harvard Corporation needs to do better, and thousands of workers across campus are standing strong together to send them that message,” said Nick Colella, core research staff. “We are still waiting on other key articles such as Childcare/Family Benefits and Protections Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Bullying. We remain ready to continue negotiations and settle this contract swiftly. It’s up to them to demonstrate they are serious about finding a mutual resolution.”
The administration’s negotiators have refused to recognize many of the union’s core issues. They continue to oppose neutral third-party arbitration for harassment and discrimination cases, seeking to keep those protections outside the contract’s standard enforcement process and oppose inclusion of stipend-funded researchers (stipendees) in the bargaining unit. A Harvard-commissioned external review found that sexual harassment was enabled by permissive culture and reporting failures across the University. After cases of sexual misconduct in Anthropology were reported, a department committee recommended third-party arbitration in misconduct investigations.
“That’s what makes this so frustrating. Harvard has already been told that the system isn’t working but when workers ask for an independent process, the University continues to say no. The problem is systemic, so accountability has to be independent,” says Ashley Scott, Research Associate, Anthropology.
The Harvard Graduate Student Workers Union (HGSU-UAW) is also currently on strike since October 27. They have been unable to reach agreement on core demands, including Harvard’s refusal to agree to a third-party process for harassment and discrimination cases, raises that match inflation, and protections for noncitizen workers. In June 2025, the administration also unilaterally removed nearly 1,000 student workers from union eligibility.
“At the bargaining table, Harvard has been echoing the same ‘right-to-work’ talking points that the Trump administration and its corporate allies have long used to try to undermine unions nationwide,” said Madeleine Baker, a labor historian and a postdoctoral College Fellow in the History of Science Department. “For that reason, it’s sadly unsurprising that they have resorted to union-busting tactics on the ground as well. Over a hundred of my colleagues and I were wrongly told without any justification given that we were ineligible for union membership, an outrageous attempt to strip us of our rights under federal law. In some of these cases, including mine, the administration admitted its error after pushback. Harvard is focused on undermining the very existence of the union it claims to be negotiating with in good faith.”
Harvard Academic Workers have presented a comprehensive package covering all outstanding articles, with significant movement on provisions important to management, which Harvard could accept at any time. HAW-UAW won its union election more than two years ago with over 93% of the vote and is bargaining for its first contract. They voted 93.6% to authorize a strike in July.
