University statement on HUCTW negotiations

We remain committed to working with the leadership of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) to reach an agreement that benefits both our employees who are represented by the union and the University as a whole.

Harvard invests nearly $2 billion in compensation for its employees every year, and our benchmarking has shown that HUCTW pay is very competitive when compared with the external market.

As the endowment results released yesterday demonstrate, Harvard has not been immune to the volatility of the global economy. Almost all of the University’s revenue sources face heightened pressures, from decreased funding for research to the impact of volatile global markets on our endowment. These revenue pressures, combined with the need to make targeted investments to advance Harvard’s academic mission, are likely to have long-lasting implications for the University’s finances.

Over the past year, seven of our other unions have agreed to new contracts that included wage increases between 2 and 3 percent. These were fair agreements that reflected challenging economic times, and administrative and professional employees received an average base wage increase of 2.65 percent. In our discussions with the HUCTW, our offers with regard to wages are clearly consistent with the internal and external job markets.