Harvard Offers Just Cause Protections to Unionized Undergraduate Workers

The University offered Harvard’s undergraduate workers union protections against dismissal without just cause during a bargaining session on Monday, 11 months after negotiations for the union’s first contract began.

At the Monday session, the first of 2025, members of Harvard Undergraduate Workers Union-United Auto Workers — which represents 400 student workers in non-academic jobs — presented proposals to extend grievance filing deadlines, guarantee minimum work schedules, and alter employment letters.

University negotiators presented a counter proposal on discipline and dismissal, agreeing not to “discipline or dismiss a worker without just cause” and notify both the worker and the union of any decision on disciplinary action, according to an email from members of the bargaining committee to student-workers. In the proposed article, the University struck language requiring initial remediation, investigatory meetings, and hearings — adding that discipline can include unpaid suspensions.

HUWU-UAW bargaining committee member Aaryan K. Rawal ’26 said that while Just Cause was not a central priority for the union, Harvard’s offer was a sign they were “recognizing our power.”

“They gave that to us without us even really having to fight for it, which I think is really a sign that we have some power in this negotiation,” said Rawal, a former Crimson editorial editor.

Non-academic student workers voted to unionize with the UAW in Oct. 2023, and began bargaining for their primary contract in March. Months into negotiations, HUWU-UAW has struggled to recruit bargaining committee members, particularly library and cafe workers.

While the committee now includes student workers from all sectors of the bargaining unit, there are still empty seats. According to Rawal, recruitment has been difficult because they do not have an up-to-date list of worker contacts.

“There’s so much transition in our workplaces, semester to semester, that we really need that workers’ list to contact those who voted for this union overwhelmingly and making sure that they’re included in the process,” Rawal said.

According to the union’s email, the University also presented a counterproposal on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act during the Monday session. Per the email, members intend to counter the University’s proposal to allow HUWU-UAW representatives to more easily contact workers who are facing discipline.

The union also presented new proposals to extend the deadline to file a grievance from 21 days to 90 and include the length of employment in employment letters sent to new workers, according to the email, signed by Rawal and bargaining committee member Bea Wall-Feng ’25.

“We’re still demanding at least four hours of guaranteed, regular work each week; the right to decline shifts during major examination periods without penalty; and the right to decline additional hours or extended shifts without retaliation,” wrote Rawal and Wall-Feng, a former Crimson magazine editor.

The union is also hoping to secure protections for immigrant student-workers in the wake of the Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented workers.

“We’re also very aware of our political environment, and we’re making sure that every single student, regardless of their immigration protection, can go to work, do their job, and not have to worry about any violations of their rights,” Rawal said.

University spokesperson Jason A. Newton wrote in an emailed statement that “careful consideration will be placed on each proposal drafted and presented by both sides throughout the bargaining process that takes place across multiple negotiation sessions.”

“We are making progress and look forward to continuing discussions with the Harvard Undergraduate Workers Union-United Auto Workers (HUWU-UAW), including around proposals that will be put forward in upcoming sessions,” he wrote.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at hugo.chiasson@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.

—Staff writer Amann S. Mahajan can be reached at amann.mahajan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @amannmahajan.