Harvard Custodians Call Out the University Amid Ongoing Wage Negotiations

“Harvard, escucha, estamos en la lucha!” “Harvard, escucha, estamos en la lucha!” By mid-morning on Nov. 17, loud chants, translating to “Harvard, listen, we’re in this fight!” filled Harvard Yard. Hundreds of custodians represented by the Service Employees International Union 32BJ began a two-day strike in demand of fair wages, a new union contract, and an end to what they describe as Harvard’s “unfair labor practices.”

The strike came after the custodians’ previous contract with Harvard expired on Nov. 15. Just two days earlier, negotiations for new agreements “broke down” when some members of the custodial bargaining committee walked out of negotiations with the University, stressing that current wage proposals were insufficient. With the cost of living and inflation rising, Harvard’s custodians want to be heard: “We aren’t asking for something crazy, we just need the minimum to survive,” a striker shared in an interview with the Harvard Independent.

Elena Lavarreda, the New England Janitorial Division Director of 32BJ SEIU, expressed the urgency of the situation. “We’re out here supporting the workers,” she said. “They want to maintain their benefits, which include [wage] increases over the life of the contract… People want recognition of all of their hard and important work. But more importantly, people want to be able to afford the cost of living in this very expensive area.”

In the Fiscal Year 2025, around $3.5 billion of Harvard’s $6.8 billion total operating expenses were allocated to salaries, wages, and employee benefits for Harvard faculty, staff, and other employees. Harvard notes that full-time support staff, including custodians, are eligible for various benefits, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and transportation subsidies, among other offerings. Still, custodian workers on strike express that financial struggles remain an issue and demand increased pay. 

According to the 32BJ SEIU Contract, from Jul. 1 to Nov. 15, 2025 when the contract expired, custodial staff with less than three years of service received $28 per hour, while staff with more than three years of service received $28.68 per hour.

“Folks are not asking for much, and it’s not even a drop in the bucket of what Harvard could afford,” Lavarreda stated.

For Roberio B. Da Silva, an athletic custodian at Harvard, financial struggles have hit hard. After getting COVID in 2021, he spent 30 days in the hospital, 19 of them intubated, followed by a long recovery that kept him out of work. “When I got COVID, I didn’t work that much. Now to support my family, I need two jobs because the money I get from Harvard is not enough,” he said at the strike.

Normally, full-time custodians work eight hours a day, totaling 40 hours per week. “We do the hard work over here. We wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning to get over here by 6 o’clock,” Da Silva said. However, he added how overtime work has become essential for his finances. “Right now, if I don’t work overtime, I’m not gonna make enough to survive because I have to pay the rent, I have to pay for food, I have to pay for medicine,” he said. “It is very difficult right now, because the money we get is not enough.”

Sandra Vega, another custodian on strike who works in Adams House, added that many custodians have second jobs just to cover basic expenses. “They are offering pennies, pennies for our work,” she said. “We got very little money in the previous contracts, and given all the inflation right now, we cannot live with just one job,” she said.

“Typically, I wake up, I come to work at Harvard, and then after Harvard, I have to go to my part-time job because what I get as a full-time worker here is not enough to pay my bills and provide for my daughter,” Vega continued.

From July 2024 to July 2025, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the Boston area increased by 3.2%. More specifically, from July 2024 to July 2025, food prices in the Boston area have increased by 3.3% and housing prices have increased by 4.8%. However, in wage negotiations, the University offered custodians an annual salary increase of 2.2%, which custodians feel does not account for the increases in cost of living.

To contextualize the recent 32BJ SEIU Contract history, custodial wages at Harvard have steadily risen each year since 2020. For custodians with over three years of service, the hourly rate increased from $24.67 in July 2020 to $28.68 by July 2025. The University has maintained efforts to increase custodian pay throughout the past years, though workers remain feeling stretched thin, tired, and still struggling to cover basic expenses.

“I’m here because in the negotiation Harvard didn’t show any willingness to accommodate or any respect for us, so we had no other choice than to come today and strike,” Vega said.

Lavarreda added how the work of custodians is crucial and too often overlooked. “Keeping this campus clean and safe and healthy and hygienic is just as important a part of student body life as is making sure that the academics are strong. It’s one piece of a puzzle that makes up a whole,” she stated.

Today, around 6,000 unionized Harvard employees belong to labor unions, with approximately 800 of those being represented by 32BJ SEIU. As the fastest-growing labor union in North America, SEIU takes pride in protecting the workers whose daily efforts keep communities safe and running.

As the strike continued, Da Silva shared the pride he takes in the impact of his work. “When one student got out of quarantine… They hugged me and told me I make their life better because I am always smiling.”

“When I work for students, I treat them like my own sons and daughters,” he added.

Da Silva said that he has spent 10 years doing this work without complaint. “We left our families and homes to take care of you guys, and we are happy to do it,” he said. “The only thing we ask is for Harvard to stand up for us.”

By sundown on Nov. 18, custodians were still marching and chanting through Harvard Yard. On Nov. 19, a press release from Regional Communications Director Frank Soults announced, “All the custodians who participated in one-day strikes across Harvard University on Monday and Tuesday have now returned to work, and the workers’ bargaining committee has agreed to resume negotiations.”

“We look forward to returning to the table to negotiate an agreement that lets these essential workers get ahead of the terrible affordability crisis that has hurt working people across the country,” stated 32BJ SEIU Executive Vice President Kevin Brown.

Vega said the message they hope the University hears is simple: “We’ve been here for you when you need us. Please, at least consider our jobs and try to give us a fair salary.”

Sonia Singh ’29 (soniasingh@college.harvard.edu) writes News for the Harvard Independent.