Dining service employees at Harvard University are ready to strike if the school does not meet their salary demands within the next two weeks, reports The Harvard Crimson.

In a vote Thursday night, 591 of the 609 workers voted “yes” to authorizing a strike. The workers are seeking year-round work for interested employees at a “minimum guaranteed salary” of $35,000. The workers also want more affordable health care benefits.

The workers will meet with the university on Friday for the last bargaining session before the union’s contract expires on Saturday. Another bargaining session is scheduled for Sept. 27.

“In two weeks, if we haven’t reached a just agreement, our members are ready to strike,” Michael Kramer, the lead negotiator for Local 26, the Boston-based bargaining unit that represents HUDS, told the Crimson.


Tania deLuzuriaga, Harvard spokesperson, wrote the following in a statement last week: “Harvard’s dining workers currently receive highly competitive wages that lead the local and national workforce for comparable positions in the foodservice industry.”