Harvard Dining Hall Strike Nears End With Tentative Union Agreement

BOSTON (CBS) -- After months of failed negotiations prompted a strike for Harvard dining hall workers, new breakthroughs broke picket lines on Tuesday.

Union leaders and Harvard administrators reached a pre-dawn tentative agreement early Tuesday morning to be laid out later in the day. Fatima Lincoln, part of the union negotiating committee, told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karyn Regal the tentative agreement is a big win for Harvard workers.

"We're going to talk about it and agree on it and then we're going to come out and tell people, call people ... if we have to text people we'll text people," Lincoln said.  "Whatever way we can make people understand that we won victory."

Workers with Unite Here Local 26 went on strike Oct. 5 after negotiating with Harvard administrators for months without coming to agreement. Major sticking points in the union contract negotiations included pay and healthcare, which Harvard vice president Katie Lapp said the tentative agreement addresses.

"I am pleased to report that Harvard has reached an agreement in principle with Unite Here Local 26, the union that represents Harvard's dining services workers, on a new, five-year contract that represents a fair and reasonable resolution to negotiations," Lapp said in a statement. "The agreement, which addresses the main issues of wages and health care, will now be presented by Local 26 to its members for approval."

"We are pleased to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement with Harvard University that our Bargaining Committee believes addresses all of the concerns of our more than 700 members on strike," Unite Here Local 26 president Brian Lang told WBZ-TV in a statement. "Our strike will continue until all members on strike have a chance to review the agreement and vote to ratify. We will disclose details of the agreement after this vote on Wednesday."

Lincoln said she weathered the strike for herself and others in the union.

"I've been here 28 years and I never thought of myself going on strike," Lincoln said. "I was afraid to go on strike like a lot of people. But, I had to stay strong for myself and other people."

The union is expected to vote on Wednesday. Workers could be back in the dining hall as early as Thursday.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karyn Regal reports