City Council Boycott in Doubt As Local UFW Week Begins

City Councilor David A. Wylie said yesterday he has "serious doubts" about whether city agencies are heeding the council's order that they no longer purchase goods being boycotted by supporters of the United Farm Workers.

The resolution, passed by the council last Monday, mandates that none of the city's hospitals and infirmaries purchase the boycotted grapes, lettuce and wines.

Wylie, who submitted the motion, said yesterday it was his intention that the boycott resolution also apply to city schools, although he acknowledged that council votes are not binding on the Cambridge School Committee.

Neither City Manager James L. Sullivan nor City Purchasing Agent Richard J. McNamara were available for comment yesterday, but a survey of dietitians and chefs at Cambridge Hospital and Cambridge Infirmary revealed that food service employees have not been informed of the boycott.

Wylie will begin investigating implementation of the council order today.

Local organizers for the UFW yesterday distributed leaflets urging citizens to support the boycott at ten local Protestant and Catholic churches yesterday to mark the beginning of "Cambridge United Farm Workers Week."

Locally, the week will include neighborhood canvassing, the sending of a delegation of Cambridge citizens to area A&P headquarters and a week-long picketing of the Boston area's "most successful" A&P outlet in Roslindale, John E. McHale, a member of the Cambridge Committee to Support Farm Workers, said yesterday.

Nicholas B. Jones, UFW New England coordinator, said yesterday the effect of Cambridge's endorsement will mostly be educational.