Posts tagged Harvard
Push to unionize at college dorms is growing
March 31, 2023 // Colleges have been a breeding ground for illness and social havoc since the pandemic began, and much of the onus has been placed on RAs, who are appointed to shepherd the well-being of an entire floor of younger students. In the past, that has typically meant hosting events, mediating roommate disputes, and perhaps guiding an overserved first-year safely to bed. For this, RAs are compensated with free or discounted housing and meal plans. But in recent semesters, and especially since schools reopened during the COVID-19 pandemic, those responsibilities have ballooned. RAs who spoke with the Globe describe being deputized as “COVID police” to enforce masking and social distance, and wrangling students whose university — or even high school — experience was stunted by lockdowns and remote learning. Several schools later assigned RAs to longer overnight “on call” shifts and additional check-ins with residents.
Harvard Undergraduate Employees Launch Unionization Effort
February 14, 2023 // The University’s graduate student union represents graduate student employees and undergraduates who work as teaching fellows, teaching assistants, and course assistants, but other undergraduate employees are currently without union representation. HUWU’s start also coincides with the launch of Harvard Academic Workers-United Automobile Workers, which started a card drive to form a non-tenure-track faculty union Monday. ADVERTISEMENT Workers who want to form a union can sign authorization cards to prompt either a union election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board or voluntary union recognition by Harvard.
Healthcare Workers, Especially Physicians, Slow to Unionize in Past Decade: Study
January 6, 2023 // Some physicians, however, may oppose unions because of the cost of union dues or fears that union goals might not align with their responsibility to patients. Doctors and other healthcare workers are often concerned about the ethics of unionizing, Onello said. “They see this looming tactic of a strike or work stoppage and think, ‘I could never do that to my patients,’ ” Onello said. “But the process of collective bargaining, when it’s working well, should not lead to a strike if both sides are negotiating in good faith to reach a fair and workable agreement.”
Right-to-Work Impact Study First Measure of Michigan, Indiana Laws
August 10, 2022 // Ten years ago this December, the state Legislature adopted a right-to-work statute, which said nobody need be compelled to join or financially support a union as a condition of employment. This worker protection law was the fruit of a two-decade campaign by the Mackinac Center. The Mackinac Center has repeatedly used its intellectual firepower to demonstrate to the public, opinion makers and legislators that right-to-work states frequently do better economically than those with compulsory union laws. Among the studies we cited over the years was a 1998 academic paper that looked at counties on state borders, where one state enjoyed right-to-work protections and an adjacent state did not. Mackinac Center Adjunct Scholar Todd Nesbit, Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Detroit News,
Custodians Reach Tentative Contract Agreement with Harvard
December 7, 2021 // The union representing Harvard’s custodial workers reached a four-year tentative agreement for a contract with the University Friday, securing wage increases. If ratified, the contract will be in effect from Nov. 16 of this year to Nov. 15, 2025. The ratification vote will likely open the week of Dec. 13