Harvard University faces a growing labor dispute as a second union prepares to join an ongoing strike that has already disrupted classes, exams and campus events.
Harvard Academic Workers-UAW, which represents about 2,600 employees, announced plans to strike Tuesday, November 10 after contract talks failed Monday.
The university’s graduate student workers have been on strike since October 27.
Harvard dining workers have also voted to authorize a strike, though they have not announced a date.
Here are five things to know about the situation.
1. Harvard faces two major union strikes
Harvard Academic Workers-UAW represents lecturers, researchers, teaching assistants and other employees who lack tenure.
The union has spent more than two years trying to reach its first contract with Harvard.
The two sides have held 54 bargaining sessions since September 2024 but remain divided over wages, family benefits and other issues.
Union leaders said Monday that Harvard had not made enough progress on their main demands.
According to The Harvard Crimson, the union plans to hold rallies Tuesday at Zimmer Hall Plaza and in the Longwood Medical Area.
The union has not announced how long its strike will last.
2. Graduate students have been on strike since October
The Harvard Graduate Students Union began its second strike of 2026 on October 27.
The union represents more than 4,000 student workers and wants higher wages, better benefits and stronger protections for foreign workers.
It also wants changes to the process for handling harassment and discrimination complaints.
The workers previously went on strike in April. That walkout lasted about 40 days and ended in June without a new contract.
The new strike has affected classroom instruction, with some students losing access to teaching assistants, office hours and discussion sections.
Some professors have taken on extra teaching and grading duties to keep their classes running.
Harvard administrators have said they intend to maintain instruction during the strike.
3. Protesters disrupted a midterm exam
One of the most notable incidents occurred October 29 at Emerson Hall.
About 280 students were taking a midterm exam when striking workers began protesting outside.
The protesters used air horns, megaphones and other devices that created noise inside the building.
Professor David Jones said the noise continued for about 75 minutes.
Jones had bought earplugs for his students and allowed them to wear noise-canceling headphones.
In a November 6 article for The Harvard Crimson, Jones said the protest interfered with the exam.
He also said the union had warned him about the planned picket and urged him to move or cancel the class.
Jones chose to hold the exam as scheduled because he could not find another room large enough for his students.
Union officials later argued that he could have prevented the disruption by moving the exam.
Harvard College Dean David Deming criticized the incident during a faculty meeting.
Professors have also raised concerns about the effect of the strike on undergraduate education.
4. Stephen Colbert and Yo-Yo Ma faced protests at Harvard
The labor dispute has also affected campus events.
Comedian Stephen Colbert and cellist Yo-Yo Ma appeared at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre on November 5 for a discussion about the arts.
Union members had urged the two men to cancel their appearance or show support for the strike.
They proceeded with the event.
Protesters gathered outside the theater with horns, drums and chants. The noise made parts of the discussion difficult to hear.
A fire alarm later forced the audience to evacuate and brought the event to an early end.
According to The Harvard Crimson, university police confirmed that there was no fire.
Union president Denish Jaswal said the union had nothing to do with the alarm.
The university said it would review what caused the alarm.
Author John Green also had a Harvard appearance scheduled for November 5. He moved his event online after union members contacted him and donated money to their strike fund.
5. Harvard dining workers could also strike
The university faces another possible walkout from employees who serve meals in its dining halls.
Members of UNITE HERE Local 26 voted in October to authorize a strike after contract talks stalled.
The union represents about 600 dining workers.
The workers want better pay and benefits. They have also raised concerns about the cost of living in the Boston area.
Harvard has defended its compensation practices and says it remains committed to reaching an agreement.
A dining workers strike would add another major labor dispute to the university’s ongoing problems.
Harvard has an endowment worth nearly $68 billion, a figure union leaders have cited while arguing that the university can afford their demands.
What happens next at Harvard?
Harvard has said it wants to reach agreements with the unions while keeping classes and research activities running.
In a November 6 statement, the university said it had reached tentative agreements with the academic workers union on 19 contract articles.
Harvard also said it had offered changes to job limits and promotion rules for some employees.
However, the university maintained that a strike was unnecessary.
Union leaders have said the remaining disagreements involve some of their most important demands.
The graduate student strike remains ongoing, the academic workers union has set November 10 for its walkout and dining workers retain the option of striking.
No agreement has resolved the broader labor dispute.
