Cambridge, MA – Harvard students held an event in honor of Palestinian freedom fighter Rasmea Odeh, Nov. 11. The event, titled “Justice for Rasmea Odeh!” was well attended and featured comments by Suzanne Adely of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG).

The organizers framed the discussion in the context of a history of national oppression of Palestinians and government repression of anti-war organizers. “In many ways, Rasmea's story is the story of the Palestinian people,” said event host Collin Poirot of Harvard NLG and Justice for Palestine.

Adely's presentation situated Rasmea's case in a long history of U.S. government surveillance and repression. Adely brought up the cases of Amer Jubran and Muhammad Salah, who were also targeted by the U.S. government for their leadership in the Palestinian liberation struggle and their opposition to imperialism.

The discussion also highlighted the importance of social movements and activism in support of Rasmea Odeh. “The importance of organizing and building activist support cannot be overstated,” Adely stated.

Organizers have already won significant victories in the campaign for Odeh. Not only have her supporters made Odeh a nationally known figure in the anti-war movement, but they were also able to build pressure and get Odeh out of solitary confinement during the appeal of her case. Significantly, organizers forced Odeh’s first judge to step down from the case.

Odeh's supporters have put out a national call to action for her next court date, Nov. 29, when the judge will decide whether to allow expert therapist Mary Fabri to testify about the effect of Odeh’s torture at the hands of the Israelis. All supporters who are able to attend the hearing are strongly encouraged to do so.

For supporters who cannot make it to the hearing, the Rasmea Defense Committee is asking students and community organizers to hold events and protests raising awareness about Odeh’s case. Please send details about any events you have planned to info@stopfbi.net so that the organizers in Detroit can use it in their advocacy. You can find out more about Odeh’s case and other ways to get involved at www.justice4rasmea.org.

#CambridgeMA #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #PoliticalRepression #RasmeaOdeh #Harvard

Boston, MA -Harvard, the world’s wealthiest university, saw its first workers’ strike in over 30 years this week as Harvard University Dining Service (HUDS) food service workers, members of UNITE HERE Local 26, took to the picket lines on Oct. 5. Workers were in contract negotiations with the Harvard administration since the end of May. The administration is refusing to budge on key workers’ demands including equitable healthcare, year-round employment, and a racial justice task force to promote equality at work.

Students from across the Harvard system are showing their support for the strike by issuing statements of solidarity, sharing meals with striking workers, and most importantly, reinforcing the picket lines. Almost 3000 students signed a petition supporting the HUDS workers strike, and now over 400 are pledged to stand on picket lines until worker’ demands are met.

A large coalition of student organizations issued joint declarations of support for the strike. Just this week, the Harvard chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and Reclaim Harvard Law released a co-authored, bilingual statement exposing that African American, Latino, Haitian and other oppressed nationalities and women are often given the lowest paying jobs at the law school and rarely receive promotions.

Undergraduate students have also held ‘dine-ins’ with the HUDS workers. Students and workers then share a meal and discuss the HUDS struggle and the experiences of Harvard’s workers.

Last week on Sept. 30, students and workers held a joint rally building towards the strike, followed by a worker speak-out in the main lounge of Harvard Law School. In response to the widespread student support for the HUDS strike, the Harvard Law School administration was forced to shut down law school cafeterias, rather than bringing in scabs to break the strike.

“Harvard has a long history of pitting its own students against workers. One president of the university, Abbott Lowell, owned a steel mill north of campus. The steel workers at the mill joined the famous Bread and Roses Strike of 1912 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Harvard President Lowell offered students a passing grade on their mid-term exams if they would agree to reinforce the Massachusetts State Militia in harassing the workers and breaking the picket line,” explained Harvard Law student Collin Poirot during an Oct. 6 student-worker solidarity rally.

Poirot finished his speech, “These students traded in their solidarity and support for working-class people in exchange for good grades and upward mobility. We will never make that mistake again.”

While solidarity with the Harvard workers continues to grow on campus, it is apparent that the Harvard administration is negotiating on behalf of the financial elites who control the Harvard Corporation.

The HUDS workers are winning and participation is increasing with the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and other workers joining them. On Oct. 7, UNITE HERE Local 26 members from hotels and universities across the city of Boston rallied with Harvard workers.

The HUDS workers are fierce in their commitment to winning this campaign. It is likely that solidarity with Harvard workers will spread to other campuses and cities in coming weeks, showing that reviving the strike is a good way to win.

#BostonMA #StudentMovement #PeoplesStruggles #strikes #Harvard

Cambridge, MA – The union of the 750 food service workers at Harvard University held a briefing and rally on Sept. 7 to announce their intent to hold a strike vote. The union, UNITE HERE Local 26, has been in negotiations with the university administration since late May, and workers say that little progress has been made on their two major issues.

One of the Harvard workers’ primary concerns is a management proposal to increase their health insurance costs. Similar increases were imposed on Harvard faculty and agreed to by some of the other unions at the university. The dining services workers have rejected this proposal because of the devastating effect that it could have on workers’ health.

Anabella Pappas, a member of the union’s bargaining committee, said during the briefing that university proposed co-pay increases would mean that “many of us will have no choice but to neglect to go to the doctor.” A group of Harvard Medical School students stood beside workers at the briefing and voiced their support for their struggle, arguing that from a medical perspective, the insurance plans being forced on Harvard’s workers are some of the worst in the country and would reduce access to preventative and life-saving medical treatment.

In addition to fighting against health insurance takebacks, the union is also fighting to secure a minimum annual income of $35,000 for Harvard workers. Many of the dining service workers are laid off for four months out of every year- when students are on summer holiday – and are barred from collecting unemployment during that time. Laquiesha Rainey, another member of the bargaining committee, described the hope for a better life that she felt when she got a job at a prestigious university. These hopes were soon dashed by the reality of cyclical layoffs. “I can’t feed my daughter off of prestige,” Rainey said. “I fail to understand how the richest university in the world can’t provide workers with a minimum of $35,000 a year.”

As the Harvard workers spoke, they were surrounded by a wall of photographs of workers who have committed to strike, if necessary. Organizers said there were over 600 photographs. Following the announcement of the Sept. 15 strike vote, workers and students took the wall of photographs and marched through Harvard Yard. Students across the Harvard system have also been organizing in support of the workers’ decision to strike.

Collin Poirot, a second year student at Harvard Law School, said that it is especially important for students to show up in support of staff. “We’re here to show the university administration that students and workers are united, and that we will always have the backs of Harvard workers, just as they have always had ours.”

No strike date has been announced, but the struggle on Harvard’s campus is likely to intensify in the weeks ahead.

#CambridgeMA #Strikes #Harvard #UNITEHERELocal26

Cambridge, MA – Hundreds of Harvard University workers and students rallied in the middle of Harvard Yard on April 14, as dining service workers prepare to enter negotiations for a new union contract. The workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents nearly 800 workers on Harvard’s campus. The rally focused on two key issues which are expected to loom large in negotiations with the university administration – health care and year-round work.

Last year, Harvard management inspired headlines and protests by gutting the health insurance of its faculty and other non-union staff. The largest union at the university, the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW), recently settled on a less onerous plan but still agreed to some cost-shifting to workers. Dining service workers who spoke at the rally made it clear that they were prepared to resist any attacks on their healthcare. Dining hall worker Anabella Pappas referenced Harvard’s record setting fundraising campaign, which has now raised over $6.5 billion in two and a half years. “These people have all this money and they still want to take from us,” said Pappas. “It disgusts me.”

The workers also referenced the struggle to survive without year-round employment. The dining hall workers are laid off during summer and winter breaks. Some workers in the crowd said that many of them can only rely on eight or nine months of work per year. In addition, the Harvard workers are legally barred from collecting unemployment during the months of layoff. Despite having won high hourly wages through past contract fights, many of the workers spoke of annual incomes that are out of step with these wages. In response to stories about the hardships created by this partial employment, the crowd chanted, “Hey Harvard, you’ve got cash, why do you treat your workers like trash?”

The members of Local 26 were joined by a large group of SEIU 32BJ members, who work in custodial and security jobs on campus. The SEIU members’ contract with the university expires in the fall. Student activists from multiple organizations were present in large numbers and very vocal in their support for the workers. Statements of support were made by organizations including the Student Labor Action Movement, Divest Harvard, the Harvard Islamic Society, and the Harvard Black Students Association.

#CambridgeMA #PeoplesStruggles #Protest #Harvard #fight #contract #Massachusetts