GSE Workers Demand Benefits

About 75 Harvard workers and students protested in Harvard Square Friday, demanding no-cost health benefits for janitors who work at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE).

In order for janitors to qualify for health insurance, protest coordinators claimed that the University has to let the janitors work for one more hour each week. Right now, janitors are not eligible for health care because they are only working for 15 hours each week.

“Harvard hired people for 15 hours a week, knowing that 16 gave workers health insurance,” said Jeffrey Moura, a janitor at GSE who has joined the union fight to gain health benefits for himself and the other janitors.

The protest started at the Holyoke Center where workers and students circled and yelled chants such as “health care for all” and “What’s outrageous? Harvard’s wages! What’s disgusting? Union busting!”

After about 30 minutes of chanting, flag waving, and distributing flyers to onlookers, a dining hall worker, a custodian, and a city council worker all spoke about the need to supply health insurance to GSE janitors.

During his speech, City Council member Brian Murphy ’86-’87 questioned, “Is it right to not give people health insurance?”

Protesters also handed out flyers about childcare at Harvard and African Liberation Day. Neither of these issues was brought up during any of the speeches.

“We are also protesting today with the bigger picture in mind,” said Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) member Alyssa M. Aguilera ’08.

The group then walked to Mass. Hall where a police officer dressed in riot gear stood at the front of the building. Protest organizers also spoke about Karen O’Brien, a Harvard employee and a Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) representative, alleging that Harvard was engaging in union-busting through threatening and intimidating actions towards O’Brien.

A handout that was given to all of the protesters in attendance claimed that “management has skipped over multiple steps in the disciplinary process in their zeal to intimidate a fearless fighter for workplace justice.”

The group then marched to the Science Center, through Harvard Square, and to the Graduate School of Education.

In an interview after the protest, Murphy said that he hoped that the protest would “get the university to focus on how important this is to workers.”

“The faculty and students all have health insurance. Harvard can do the right thing on this one,” Murphy said. “Adding one more hour will make a huge difference in their community.”