Labor
Union Talks Contract Goals
Unite Here Local 26, the Boston-area hospitality union which represents Harvard University Hospitality and Dining Services workers, has kick-started its contract negotiations with the University, launching the fight for what they deem “sustainable jobs” for dining staff.
SLAM Members Meet with Faust
Four members of the Student Labor Action Movement attended Harvard President Drew G. Faust’s office hours yesterday in order to ask for more job protections for workers, greater transparency in the University’s spending, and divestment from HEI Hotels and Resorts—a corporation that some allege violates workers’ rights.
SEIU Starts Contract Campaign
SEIU, the union that includes many Harvard janitors and security guards, officially launched its contract campaign for Harvard security workers on Saturday with a gathering in the Science Center.
Schultz Talk Faces Protest
Organizers estimated that 25 to 30 individuals came out to protest Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s talk.
Protest Planned for Starbucks CEO
Harvard students, union members, and Starbucks employees from around the country are planning to protest a lecture by Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz at Harvard Business School on Friday.
SLAM Calls for Divestment
The Student Labor Action Movement once again called for Harvard University to cease investing in HEI Hotels & Resorts at an event Thursday where an employee of a hotel that is managed by the investment group spoke of a demotion he called unjust.
A Crusty Dilemma
Overall, the move at an individual, activist level to combat labor abuses that many rumors would suggest are widespread in Cambridge and Boston should be viewed as a positive step that we might all try to fork out more time for in the future.
Harvard Rally for Dining Hall Workers
Harvard dining hall workers, Local 26 union representatives, and the Student Labor Action Movement came together at First Parish Church in Cambridge to rally in support of Harvard's dining hall staff.
HUCTW States Goals in Open Letter
Harvard workers want increases in health care coverage, according to an open letter released by HUCTW on Feb. 14.
Custodial Workers Rally For Full-Time Employment
Over 100 custodial workers—some of them Harvard employees—rallied outside of Trinity Church in Copley Square on Saturday to call for full-time employment for all custodial workers.
Investing Responsibly
At this point, we do not advocate immediate divestment from an investment such as HEI, but Harvard’s administration should seriously consider whether this may become a more palatable response in the future.
Mass. Health Plans To Merge
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan have signed a memorandum of understanding as the first step in a process that would merge the two health care providers, a move that would consolidate the respectively second and third largest insurers in the state of Massachusetts.
Harvard Hires Construction VP
Mark R. Johnson, a veteran Harvard administrator, has been named Harvard’s new vice president for Capital Planning and Project Management, a position created this summer to consolidate several planning offices that oversee Harvard’s construction efforts, University officials announced yesterday.
Solis Defends Worker Dignity
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis said that her department has launched a new initiative to improve the working conditions of manual laborers.
Employees, SLAM Protest on Behalf of Fired Worker
Wearing green union T-shirts and white “REHIRE JOAN” stickers, about 30 Harvard employees, students, and community members staged a rally yesterday evening protesting the termination of Joan Frankel, a former University employee of 25 years.
Boston Medical Center Announces Layoffs
Boston Medical Center announced in a statement released Monday that it would lay off 119 staff members in order to make up for a projected $175 million loss due to “dramatic changes in Medicaid reimbursements.”