In July 2016, Harvard University's Office of the Provost launched a web page in response to its graduate students' efforts to unionize.[8] On August 23, 2016, following the Columbia decision which restored union rights to teaching and research assistants, the Provost's office wrote in an email to students, "we continue to believe that the relationship between students and the University is primarily about education, and that unionization will disrupt academic programs and freedoms, mentoring, and research at Harvard."[8] Following a decision by the Regional Director of the National Labor Relations Board that Harvard was in violation of the Excelsior rule, Garber has defended the university's appeal to the National Labor Relations Board in Washington, D.C.,[9] writing that the university "believes that the November 2016 election results, which reflect the votes and voices of well-informed students, should stand, and has appealed the Regional Director's decision to the contrary."[8]
On December 3, 2019, Harvard's graduate student union began striking[10][11] on Harvard's campus due to the university's opposition to contractual changes.[12] The union's proposed changes include pay increases based on rising living-costs, expanded healthcare coverage for dependents, improved mental health services benefits, as well as third-party oversight of sexual harassment and assault cases.[10
Seems Garber is a union buster