Boston Mayor Wu Won’t Speak at Harvard Amid Strike

Boston mayor Michelle Wu withdrew from speaking at a Harvard Law School commencement event Wednesday after learning that striking graduate student workers had plans to picket the event.

Wu, who graduated from Harvard Law in 2012, was scheduled to speak at the law school’s Class Day, held the day before commencement. According to a Harvard Law spokesperson, the Harvard Graduate Student Union reached out to Wu to discourage her from participating in the event.

The mayor’s office proposed alternatives to withdrawing entirely, including having Wu acknowledge the strike from the podium or participate in the event virtually. In exchange, her office asked the union to “either not picket during her remarks or not consider her participation as crossing the picket line,” a union spokesperson told Inside Higher Ed. For its part, the union offered to have Wu speak to graduates at an off-campus venue. Neither side agreed on an alternative.

“Ultimately, our position was consistent to all external speakers: any participation in scheduled Commencement exercises would constitute crossing the picket line we have maintained for six weeks, regardless of the content of remarks or format of participation,” the union spokesperson said.

In a news release, the union praised Wu’s decision to “decline to cross our picket line,” but in a statement Wednesday, a spokesperson for the mayor framed the outcome as an unavoidable disappointment rather than a rallying cry for the striking workers.

“The Mayor was honored to be invited to join the HLS Class Day celebrations and is deeply disappointed to not be able to attend. Since learning last week that there would be a picket line at the event, we made repeated efforts to reach a compromise with the union that would have enabled the Mayor’s participation, but were ultimately unsuccessful,” the spokesperson said. “The Mayor is a strong ally of the labor movement and believes in respecting picket lines, but wishes that the union had taken one of the many alternatives available. She sends her best wishes to the graduates and their families for a memorable and meaningful day worthy of their accomplishments.”

The union’s statement struck a different tone.

“As a stalwart advocate for the city of Boston, Mayor Wu has dedicated her tenure to making Boston a better city for its workers, its families, and its communities. Her decision to stand with HGSU-UAW exemplifies a new generation of leadership, one that does not simply espouse values at a podium but demonstrates them in moments like this one. We are deeply grateful for her solidarity,” the union wrote. “We urge the University to put its espoused values into practice at the bargaining table and to negotiate an end to this strike. Mayor Wu’s leadership continues to keep workers in Boston and beyond strong, and we are honored to have her support.”

The graduate student union, which represents about 4,000 student workers, has been on strike since April 21, when contract negotiations stalled on cost-of-living increases and protections for noncitizen workers. The union has met to bargain with university representatives three times since the strike began. During the first two bargaining sessions, Harvard “proposed contract articles that would strip protections and benefits from the union’s prior contract, while failing to make progress on the union’s core demands,” the union said in a May 21 news release.

The union has been in contact with Wu’s office about the ongoing negotiations since early March and informed the office of a likely strike that would impact commencement after Wu was confirmed as a Class Day speaker for the law school, a union spokesperson said.

The law school notified students of Wu’s decision to withdraw on Tuesday. Professor of Practice Naz Modirzadeh, this year’s recipient of the law school’s Albert M. Sacks–Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence, also pulled out of Wednesday’s event “due to a personal matter,” law school officials told students.

“We are writing to share the disappointing news that, in light of outreach from the HGSU-UAW graduate student union, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’12 has informed us that she will not be able to speak at Class Day tomorrow as originally planned. We look forward to welcoming her back to campus in the future,” the officials wrote. “In consideration of these unexpected circumstances, we will refocus the Class Day speaking program tomorrow more squarely on our student award winners and on remarks and tributes to be delivered by our Class Marshals … While we are very sorry about the last-minute changes to tomorrow’s program, we are excited to celebrate you, the fantastic Class of 2026.”