Labor Watch: Loyola, UC Workers to Strike While Harvard Fights Continue

Source: Inside Higher Ed

May 01, 2026

Plus, the Maryland Legislature voted to expand bargaining rights to non-tenure-track faculty.

By Emma Whitford

It’s May Day and faculty, staff and graduate student workers across the sector are turning out in support of their unions. Here’s just a taste of what higher ed unions have planned for International Workers’ Day:

Non-tenure-track faculty with Tulane Workers United will hold a press conference to provide an update on contract negotiations before joining striking nurses and immigration activists on a march to New Orleans city hall.

St. John’s University’s two faculty unions will rally today to “push back on the anti-worker actions of the administration,” according to a news release. The event is part of an ongoing fight to regain the recognition that St. John’s president Brian Shanley withdrew in February. The union has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the New York State Public Employment Relations Board.

The Portland State University American Association of University Professors will rally today, 11 days after voting no confidence in PSU president Ann Cudd. The vote delivered a “clear judgment on the administration’s direction as Portland State moves deeper into layoffs, program eliminations, and institutional contraction,” the union wrote in a news release.


Harvard graduate student workers entered the 11th day of their strike on Friday, May 1.

John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Read more: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty/labor-unionization/2026/05/01/loyola-uc-workers-strike-while-harvard-fights-continue