Dining Hall Union, University, Renew Contract; Trend Toward Closed Shop After Negotiations

Two important departures from last year's agreement are embodied in a new contract covering wages, hours, and shop procedure signed Monday by the University and representatives of the dining hall unions.

For the first time, the University has formally agreed to require employees who have been members of a union at any time since 1938, and who are now in good standing, to regain membership in the Union or leave the employ of the University.

Formerly, Harvard officials exerted only moral pressure to insure that waitreses and others remain members once they have joined a union.

Second Change

Explicitly included in the new contract is the understanding, which has been unofficial for years, that the College may at any time put students to work in the dining halls as a means of defraying part of their expenses.

Aldrich Durant '02, business manager of the University stated that "our negotiations were carried on in a spirit of harmony and mutual concessions." Chief representative for the employees was Joseph Stephani, secretary-treasurer of Local 106 of the Cooks' and Pastry Cooks' Association, who also handled the interests of Waitresses' Union Local 112, both affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.