Boston Mayor Wu Won't Speak at Harvard Amid Strike

Michelle Wu withdrew from speaking at Harvard Law School Class Day after learning that striking graduate student workers planned to picket the event. Wu, a Harvard Law graduate from 2012, was scheduled to speak the day before commencement. A Harvard Law spokesperson said the Harvard Graduate Student Union contacted Wu to discourage participation. The mayor’s office proposed alternatives, including acknowledging the strike from the podium or participating virtually, and asked the union not to treat her participation as crossing the picket line. The union said any participation would cross the picket line regardless of content or format. The union praised Wu’s decision, while the mayor’s office described the outcome as an unsuccessful effort to reach a compromise.

"In a news release, the union praised Wu's decision to "decline to cross our picket line," but in a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for the mayor framed the outcome as an unavoidable disappointment rather than a rallying cry for the striking workers. "The Mayor was honored to be invited to join the HLS Class Day celebrations and is deeply disappointed to not be able to attend. Since learning last week that there would be a picket line at the event, we made repeated efforts to reach a compromise with the union that would have enabled the Mayor's participation, but were ultimately unsuccessful," the spokesperson said."

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