Harvard custodians go on strike

"On Monday morning, hundreds of custodians holding purple 32BJ SEIU "Harvard On Strike" signs walked off the job, marching through Harvard Yard in Cambridge and demanding fair wage increases. The strike began Monday at 10 a.m., with a large cohort of custodians directly employed by Harvard who maintain dorms, classrooms, administrative buildings, and other facilities at the university. The strike will continue with two more cleaning units that Harvard contracts - C&W Services and ABM Industries."

"In a press release, SEIU said the need for action became clear Thursday evening, when 30 members of the custodial bargaining committee walked out of the final bargaining session after the university failed to offer "meaningful wage increases" to keep up with the "skyrocketing cost-of-living since the pandemic." 32BJ SEIU Executive Vice-President Kevin Brown said that aside from bonus signing money, Harvard and its contractors only offered average annual increases of 2.2% per year - far below regular cost-of-living increases."

Over 800 custodians represented by 32BJ SEIU walked off the job beginning Monday morning, marching through Harvard Yard and demanding fair wage increases. The walkout started at 10 a.m. among custodians directly employed by Harvard and will continue with two contracted cleaning units, C&W Services and ABM Industries, staging strikes later Monday and Tuesday. Union leaders said negotiations collapsed after 30 bargaining-committee members walked out when the university failed to offer meaningful wage increases to match post-pandemic cost-of-living increases. Harvard and contractors reportedly offered average annual raises of about 2.2% plus limited signing bonuses. Many striking workers are low-paid, immigrant, and people of color.

Read at Boston.com