Labor vs. Mismanagement

Harvard faces the prospect of a strike within the next two weeks from the 265 members of the Buildings and Grounds Maintenance Association. It is a strike that could shut down the entire University, and it's strike that the University could prevent.

The Buildings and Grounds Maintenance Association is one of the oldest company unions at Harvard. It represents most of the tradesmen -- carpenters, electricians, plumbers, groundskeepers, truck drivers, and mechanics who work for B & G. For some years these men have felt at a disadvantage in bargaining sessions with Harvard's professional negotiators. Last year they approached a number of unions with professional negotiators to seek an affiliation. In December, 1966, the BGMA-membership voted to affiliate with the Boston Crafts Maintenance Council (AFL-CIO). The vote was overwhelming; the intentions of the membership was clear.

But one of the unions the BGMA rejected, the Buildings Services Employees International (AFL-CIO), has wanted to organize Harvard workers for a long time. It claims that some 15 BGMA members signed cards authorizing it as the bargaining agent. It has yet to produce these cards, but on the basis of its claim Harvard broke off contract negotiations with the BGMA last fall. The University has since refused to recognize the Crafts Maintenance Council as the BGMA's bargaining agent.

And so the BGMA men, working for wages computed in 1964, have been unable to negotiate a new contract. Considering the inequity of their wage scale, a strike would be predictable; given Harvard's insulting posture of refusing to recognize the properly chosen bargaining agent of these workmen, the strike would be justified. Harvard contends that it will wait for the results of a state-run election to determine the bargaining agent for the BGMA men. Such an election is perhaps a year away, and even then Harvard, as a non-profit institution, is not legally bound to recognize whatever union is declared the winner by the Massachusetts Labor Relations Board.

Harvard seems intent, as in the case of the already striking Printers and Photoengravers, on breaking the power of the unions. There is no reason why the Boston Crafts Maintenance Council should not immediately be recognized as the bargaining agent for the BGMA. But management seems content to follow a 19th century labor policy, even if it means shutting the University down.