Entering Third Week on Strike, Harvard dining hall workers bring fight to Boston

Entering Third Week on Strike, Harvard dining hall workers bring fight to Boston

Boston City Council will hear resolution in support, while workers ask for donations of diapers and formula and other material assistance

Boston, MA—Harvard’s striking dining hall workers will take their fight out of Cambridge and south of the river into Boston today. Strikers will attend the Boston City Council meeting where Council President Michelle Wu will offer a resolution to support the striking workers.

More than 700 Harvard dining hall workers have been on strike since Oct. 5 to win annual incomes of at least $35,000 a year and to stop Harvard administrators from shifting health care costs onto workers.

A study by the city of Boston on growing income inequality reported nearly half of Boston’s workers made less than $35,000 a year. Half of Harvard’s dining services workers, even though they work for the richest university in the world, earn less than $35,000 a year. Harvard University has a $35 billion endowment and had a $62 million operating surplus at end of the 2015 fiscal year. A $35,000 yearly income represents one-billionth of Harvard’s endowment.

“We expect Harvard to be doing better than the average,” said UNITE HERE President Brian Lang. “Harvard can’t hide behind hourly wages when workers’ annual income puts them at the bottom end of earnings.”

Harvard’s dining hall strike has received national attention in its first two weeks. After Harvard administrators were unwilling to budge last week, striking dining hall workers began reaching out to decision makers at Harvard University, including President Drew Faust and the Harvard Fellows. On Saturday Oct. 22, Harvard dining hall workers are planning a major mobilization rally and march for supporters at Cambridge Common at 3pm.

Harvard dining hall workers are asking supporters to donate to their strike assistance fund so they can support strikers who are under the most financial strain through buying necessary items like diapers, formula, and food.

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For immediate Release: October 19, 2016

Contact: [email protected]

Striking female cafeteria workers appeal to Harvard University’s first female President Drew Faust

Striking female cafeteria workers appeal to Harvard University’s first female President Drew Faust

Holding pictures of their children, striking cafeteria workers will demand Drew Faust help them reach a fair agreement

What: Striking Harvard dining hall workers to protest with pictures of their children in appeal to Harvard University President Drew as she gives a speech to alumni

Who: More than 500 striking Harvard dining hall workers along with students, faculty, and alumni

When: Friday, October 14th, 2016, 2:00pm – 4:00pm

Where: 2pm rally at Science Center plaza (1 Oxford St, Cambridge) then 3pm march to Harvard Square

Why:

More than 700 Harvard dining hall workers have been on strike since Oct. 5 for $35,000 a year and to stop the University from making workers pay more for taking their children to the doctor. After failing to reach an agreement with University administrators, dining hall workers are reaching out to Harvard University fellows and top officials to find out who makes the decisions at Harvard.

Today, 500 Harvard dining hall workers will demonstrate holding photos of children who would be impacted by the administration’s decision to pass health care costs onto the shoulders of their low-income parents.

The demonstration will take place as President Drew Faust speaks at an alumni reunion in Harvard’s Science Center. Drew Faust is Harvard University’s first female president. She is a specialist in the history of the South and has written a book on the changing roles of women during the Civil War. In 2014, Forbes ranked President Faust as the 33rd most powerful woman in the world.

Harvard cafeteria workers believe that President Drew Faust is the woman capable of helping them come to an agreement that keeps their health and their families secure.

Visuals: 500+ Harvard workers holding 500 photos of children of strikers, Harvard Square will serve as a backdrop

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For Immediate Release: Friday, October 14, 2016

Contact: Tiffany Ten Eyck, [email protected], 313-515-1807 or Diego Parra, [email protected], 347-749-6113

ABC News: Harvard’s Dining Hall Workers Preparing for Strike

Harvard Crimson: With Sharp Rhetoric, City Council Backs HUDS Strike

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