Some good news: dining hall workers at Harvard University could end their strike this week after reaching a tentative deal with the university.
Brian Lang, the president of Unite Here Local 26, which represents about 750 cafeteria workers, confirmed that terms had been reached early Tuesday morning that satisfied the workers’ demands.
Mediators helped work out the agreement between a union subcommittee and the university. On Tuesday, it would be reviewed and voted on by the full bargaining committee. It would then be brought before the entire union membership on Wednesday, and those on strike could return to work as soon as Thursday.
Solidarity is powerful:
The settlement announcement came after a nearly 12-hour bargaining session Monday that was punctuated by a student sit-in at the Cambridge office building where negotiations were taking place. More than 200 participants pressed administrators to meet the demands of the workers and settle the contract. The sit-in was part of a larger action by more than 300 students who walked out [of] classes Monday in support of the striking workers.
On Monday, a worker detailed in the New York Times how her pay wasn't keeping pace with her medical costs and rent. It’s not clear why Harvard administrators didn’t avert the strike by realizing in advance that “workers at university with $35.7 billion endowment can’t pay to have possible cancer checked out” was not going to be a narrative that got the university good publicity, or that students would support the workers. Maybe a lesson for next time, guys?