Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says she backed out of her Wednesday appearance as Class Day speaker at Harvard Law School after trying — and failing — to negotiate alternatives with the graduate student union that has been on strike for six weeks.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the mayor said Wu “made repeated efforts to reach a compromise with the union that would have enabled the Mayor’s participation” in the graduation event at her alma mater “but were ultimately unsuccessful.”
Wu told reporters Wednesday that her administration began conversations with the union and Class Day organizers last week after she was informed the members planned to picket at the celebration. She had hoped to broker a compromise and suggested that she could speak at Class Day virtually. (The union earlier in the year had decided that having virtual classes would not be considered crossing a picket line, Wu said.)
Wu’s team also offered to include a recognition of the protest in her remarks, but the union rejected both of those proposals, she said. Wu decided then to cancel.
“I will not cross the picket line and believe very strongly in standing with organized labor,” she said. “I do not agree with the decision to picket these events, and particularly the one that has been organized by students for students, and I think just horrible for disappointing the class marshals who organized this event and students who are there, but I wish them every success, and know that they will go on to change the world and be the leaders that we very much need right now.”
The graduate student union, which is an affiliate of the United Auto Workers, represents 4,000 workers at Harvard and has been on strike since April 21, the longest such work stoppage in its history. It followed 15 months of slow negotiations for its next contract.
The strike disrupted some classes led by graduate students amid finals season and stopped several truck deliveries around campus since beginning, and members plan to picket commencement ceremonies this week.
At the bargaining table, the graduate students are pushing for better pay and protections, as well as enhanced investigation procedures for student workers who face discrimination and additional support for noncitizen workers. The stakes are higher amid Harvard’s ongoing standoff with the federal government, which has forced budget cuts and ongoing layoffs across the university. Those include impacts on the funding support and other benefits for graduate and PhD students in the union, who often teach classes, staff labs, and conduct research.
Union leadership urged commencement speakers to decline their speaking invitations and honor the picket line but has not convinced anyone besides Wu, a graduate of both Harvard College and Law School.
“We remain committed to the principles that make a picket line meaningful,” the union wrote in a statement. “A picket line is only as strong as the solidarity it commands, and we are grateful to Mayor Wu for her support.”
In a statement, a Harvard spokesperson said, “The University remains committed to reaching an agreement .... one that continues to recognize — as the union’s two previously-ratified contracts have — the important role student workers have in fulfilling Harvard’s teaching and research mission."
Already, Harvard has increased its compensation proposal to provide an 11 percent pay bump over four years and expanded benefits to union workers.
The next bargaining session is scheduled for May 29.
The Wednesday Class Day program will now shift away from Wu and another professor slated to receive an award, who also cannot attend due to a “personal matter.” It will focus instead on student award winners, according to a university email.
“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,” the email read.
Tonya Alanez of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Diti Kohli can be reached at diti.kohli@globe.com. Follow her @ditikohli_. Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold.