00:00And now we go to the United States because Harvard University graduate
00:04students workers are now in their fifth week of strike. The workers argue that
00:09the university is relying on their essential labor while failing to provide
00:13basic protections and fair conditions. Our correspondent Mitch Gaines brings us
00:18more detail. Go ahead.
00:22Thanks guys. We're here at Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts
00:25where graduate student workers are now in their fifth week on strike. It may look
00:30like more of a celebration here. Today they are doing line dancing and lunch on
00:33the picket which is part of an effort to keep spirits high but the fight is quite
00:36serious. These workers say that the richest university in the world is
00:40exploiting their most essential labor or refusing to guarantee basic
00:44protections. Harvard is the richest university or educational institution
00:47anywhere in the world with an endowment now up to 57 billion US dollars. As an
00:52interesting aside, Harvard's governing body the Harvard Corporation was the first
00:56corporation ever established in the Western Hemisphere all the way back in
00:591650. But graduate workers here today tell us that the people who are teaching
01:03classes and grading papers, the ones running labs, conducting research, of course
01:07those mentoring students are often struggling to afford to live in one of
01:10the most expensive regions of the United States. Their demands as you might
01:14expect include higher pay and better health care as well as a stronger
01:17grievance process for harassment and discrimination complaints. The ones you
01:21might not expect though are some of the most significant which are those that
01:24are political. The union is asking for protections for its international and
01:27non-citizen student workers. Those protections include legal assistance and
01:31time off for immigration appointments as well as protections if a worker is
01:34detained or forced to leave the country. They also want limitations on Harvard's
01:38direct cooperation with immigration agents themselves. Lastly, they're demanding
01:43protection for academic freedoms. Since the start of the US-backed genocide in
01:48Gaza, students and scholars here alike who have spoken up for Palestinian riots have
01:52faced discipline which includes surveillance, visa threats, and as you
01:55might expect funding threats. Graduate workers say that they need these
01:59protections to be able to teach, write, and of course organize without risking
02:03their jobs, their visa, or their career. The union also said that they're
02:06fighting to stop the open shop provision which is currently in the contract which
02:10allows workers to choose not to pay dues but still benefit from the union's
02:13advocacy. They're about significantly weakening the union over time. Harvard
02:17says that's bargaining in good faith and has offered raises and expanded
02:20benefits but as you can see the strike here continues. Strikers that we spoke with
02:25today told us that negotiations are creeping along and they say how much
02:29longer this strike lasts sort of depends on how Harvard moves at the
02:32bargaining table. What happens with the strike will have ripple effects across all
02:36of higher education and the greater labor movement. Graduate worker unions have
02:40become one of the most dynamic parts of the US labor movement and what workers win
02:44here over the next few weeks could set a precedent for pay, immigration protections,
02:48academic freedom, and of course union rights across higher education. From
02:52Cambridge, Massachusetts, I'm Mitch Gaines, Telesor. Thank you. Thank you very much for your
02:57information.
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