Harvard Calls for Federal Mediator to Help Settle Ongoing Grad Student Strike
“The mediator calms the waters,” Zack said. “It’s valuable to have independent assessment.”
All the brilliant minds at Harvard can’t settle a student strike without a federal mediator? Really?
The Boston Globe reports:
Harvard calls for federal mediator in dispute with striking grad students
More than two weeks into a strike and with negotiations at an impasse, Harvard University is seeking outside help to resolve a long-running dispute with its graduate student workers union.
The university announced on Thursday that it wants to bring in a federal mediator to smooth out negotiations with the union in the hopes of coming to an agreement in the next few weeks, before the start of the new semester.
Despite a negotiation session earlier this week, the two sides remain divided on the core issues of pay and workplace protections. Graduate student workers, who help teach classes, grade papers, and manage research labs, have been on strike since Dec. 3.
Some end-of-semester study sessions for undergraduate students have been canceled, and in certain cases professors have cut back on the length of final papers or have opted to give multiple-choice exams, to reduce their grading workload while their graduate assistants are on strike.
It’s best if the sides can come to an agreement on their own, but sometimes that isn’t possible, said Arnold Zack, a senior research associate at Harvard Law School and a former president of the National Academy of Arbitrators.
“The mediator calms the waters,” Zack said. “It’s valuable to have independent assessment.”
Harvard continues to believe the strike is unnecessary, said Alan M. Garber, the university’s provost, in a message to the community on Thursday.
But the first contract with the new graduate student worker union is complex and continues to be challenging, Garber said in announcing that Harvard has proposed engaging the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
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Comments
Either dip into the massive Harvard endowment and and pay more, or fire all of them and replace them with other grad students.
There is no shortage of grad students in America.
I hear a few are taking relevant courses of study, too.
Show me some social justice, replace them with Obamagrants
One would think that with all the “brilliant” minds at Hahvahd, this would have been a no brainer?
one can but wonder. who thought a union for work study would be a good idea? these “kids” are in grad school for christ sake!
most are at least 25/26 years old.
what was lacking in the old system? the new arrangement is fixing what exactly?