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CAMBRIDGE, Mass (WBZ NewsRadio) — The Harvard University Graduate Student Union voted to ratify a new contract with the school on Saturday, after a tumultuous eight months of negotiations.
The new, four year contract gained the support of 70.6% of voting union members (or 1,353 votes out of a total of 1,917), following a three-day strike in October. A tentative agreement was reached with the university hours before a strike was set to start on November 16. The union is part of the United Auto Workers, as Local 5118.
The new contract includes a 5% raise, which kicks in retroactively to July 1, and another 4% raise next July with a guaranteed minimum hourly wage of $21 by 2023.
In a statement, the union said some its members had wanted to see more in the contract, like the ability to take sexual harassment cases to third-party arbitration and requiring student workers who don't join the union to pay fees to support it.
The contract expires on June 30, 2025.
WBZ's Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports:
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