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More than 100 Harvard dining hall workers rallied in front of Massachusetts Hall on Wednesday to demand Harvard adequately staff dining halls amid a University-wide hiring freeze, delivering a petition with more than 400 signatures to the administration.
The rally, which started at Smith Campus Center and ended in front of Massachusetts Hall, was organized by UNITE HERE Local 26 — a labor union representing Massachusetts and Rhode Island hospitality workers, including Harvard University Dining Hall Services staff.
Harvard announced the hiring freeze in March, after the Trump administration moved to slash federal funding at Columbia University. Now, as the White House has cut nearly $3 billion in Harvard’s funding, dining hall workers are asking the University to do a better job of including them in staffing conversations.
“We applaud the administration’s stance with regards to the Trump administration,” Carlos R. Aramayo, UNITE HERE Local 26 president, said. “But we want to be included in a dialogue about how the changes and cuts that they need to make affect our members, and we haven’t had a meaningful dialogue with the administration.”
HUDS traditionally pauses hiring in March, expecting to need less staff as the semester comes to an end. But Aramayo said that this semester, dining hall staff have been forced to fill the gaps caused by the hiring freeze — taking on more responsibilities and working overtime in light of understaffing.
“A lot of folks being asked to, being forced to work overtime hours,” he said. “Someone retires or someone leaves their job — there was a grille that had three people on it, now there’s two people on it. People now do a whole lot more work to actually get the work done right.”
Workers called on the administration to address these persistent problems in the petition.
“Harvard must respect its essential workers by filling open positions and maintaining adequate staffing in its dining halls,” the petition read.
Funding cuts have forced changes across University operations — from dining halls to laboratories and faculty wages — as administrators grapple with how to manage the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding.
Researchers across Harvard Medical School began receiving stop-work orders immediately after the initial cuts, indefinitely pausing projects on the treatment and diagnosis of various diseases. And in April, the University halted merit-based raises for faculty and non-union staff.
The University showed signs of further tightening its belt after an additional $450 million in federal grants were cut on Tuesday. Soon after the newest cuts were announced, University President Alan M. Garber ’76 announced he would take a 25 percent cut to his pay.
As Harvard continues to develop its response to the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks, Aramayo said he hopes Wednesday’s action will spur the administration to keep the needs of dining hall staff in mind.
“We would call on the administration — hopefully over the summer, as we head into next semester — to have a meaningful dialogue so that we don’t have some of the challenges and, frankly, unsafe conditions that can occur when there’s short-staffing and understaffing in the dining halls,” he said.
—Staff writer Sebastian B. Connolly can be reached at sebastian.connolly@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X at @SebastianC4784.
