University Drops Disruption Charge Against 5 Workers

Harvard dropped charges last Wednesday against five striking hospital workers after the workers agreed not to enter any Harvard classrooms without the advance permission of the instructor.

The University's charges stemmed from the hospital workers' alleged disruption of the class of Mortimer B. Zuckerman, associate professor of City and Regional Planning. Zuckerman is involved in a protracted wage dispute with the workers at a Boston hospital.

Daniel Steiner '54, general counsel to the University and author of the agreement, said yesterday that the agreement is a "perfectly satisfactory end" to the dispute.

The hospital workers are relieved but not happy with the settlement, Emily Bass, a spokesman for the workers, said last week. "When you don't have any power, you have to make deals," she added.

The University filed criminal complaints against the five workers two weeks ago, charging them with the disruption of Zuckerman's class on December 8.

The workers claim the University's complaint is invalid because a teaching assistant who replaced Zuckerman on December 8 allowed the workers to remain briefly in the classroom.

The workers, members of Hospital Workers Union Local 1199, demanded that Zuckerman, a limited partner in the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Hospital, listen to the workers' requests for higher wages and better working conditions.

The Local has been on strike at the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Hospital since October.

Bass said the workers have no plans to enter Zuckerman's class in the future, but workers will continue to picket Zuckerman's home, his office, and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Hospital.