Harvard Graduate Students Union - UAW Local 5118

To the President of the Harvard Corporation, Alan Garber, Provost John Manning, and the Harvard University Administration:

On behalf of over 4,000 undergraduate and graduate student workers employed by Harvard University and represented by the Harvard Graduate Students Union-UAW Local 5118, we write to demand Harvard University Administration bargain in good faith and settle a fair contract now.

We love our teaching and research. We would rather be mentoring our students than walking a picket line. But our dedication is not permission to exploit us. You have forced us to strike by denying us the conditions we need to do our work:
Safe Workplace: Real recourse against harassment and discrimination, with enforceable protections and access to our union’s grievance process.
Fair Pay and Benefits: Compensation and access to benefits that let us afford to live where we work, in one of the most expensive cities in the country.
The Right to Stay: Enforceable protections and meaningful support for our non-citizen coworkers facing attack after attack from a hostile federal administration.

It is unconscionable to demand our labor while denying us a safe workplace and the means to live. We stand up for our students every day. We must stand up for ourselves, too.

Our labor makes Harvard work. Give us the conditions to keep doing it.

Sincerely,
HGSU-UAW Members