Photo: WBZ NewsRadio Archive
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Over 800 custodians at Harvard University rallied Monday as part of a two-day strike demanding wage increases.
The contract for unionized employees, represented by the 32BJ Service Employee’s International Union (SEIU), expired on Saturday. Negotiations between the school and the union fell apart.
“Harvard made no counter to our wage proposal,” said Elena Lavarreda, director of the janitorial division. “A group of 30 leaders who have been bargaining over this past 5 weeks walked out,” she continued.
Striking custodians rallied both in Harvard Yard and outside Harvard Medical School on Monday. “We’re considered essential workers, but only when Harvard wants us to be essential workers,” Jorge, a custodian and crew chief, said at the Harvard Yard rally. “They’re not paying me a livable wage,” he continued.
Many workers stressed the importance of the strike and pointed to the dire necessity of a potential wage increase.
“That’s the only way I can pay for rent,” said Jorge.
The union is not currently disclosing how much they are asking for but are looking for more than the average annual 2.2% increase in wages that the university offered them.
“It was far below what our asking increase was and also far below what other colleges in the other like Boston College and Mount Holyoke out in Western Mass. Have already signed this year and those colleges have far smaller endowments than Harvard,” said local 32BJ spokesperson Frank Soults.
According to Harvard’s website, the university has a more than $55 billion endowment for the 2025 fiscal year.
Striking workers are also set to rally overnight outside Harvard Business School from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. On Tuesday, custodians will continue to strike outside of Harvard Business School from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will also be a rally from noon to 6 p.m. near the Harvard School of Education..
WBZ NewsRadio Boston has reached out to Harvard University for comment.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports.