Harvard Printing Workers Vote to Approve Contract

Harvard's printing workers ratified a new contract yesterday in a close vote by the members of the union, a union spokesman, who asked to remain unidentified, said yesterday.

The new two-year contract, which is retroactive to November 14, provides for a 6-per-cent increase in wages for the first year, a 5.5-per-cent increase for the following year, with the increases especially geared to helping lower-paid workers, and increased vacation benefits, Edward W. Powers, associate general counsel for employee relations, said yesterday.

The union spokesman said yesterday the union members ratified the contract only after "a lot of heated discussion," including proposals to strike to get better terms.

"We felt we couldn't get anything more without a strike, but we thought if we struck again they'd have tried to get us by cutting down on the workload or subcontracting work to non-union people," the spokesman said.

Powers said the University does have some printing done by outside contracting because it is often less expensive, and added several other universities have eliminated their "in-house" printing altogether.

Power said, however, "Harvard operations are sufficiently cost-effective" to eliminate for the time being that possibility.

The members of Locals 300 and 16B of the Graphic Arts International Union, which includes lithographers, photoengravers and bookbinders who work for the University printing office, have struck Harvard twice in the past seven years over wage disputes.

Bonus

The provision guaranteeing a minimum 40-cent-an-hour increase in all wages, an addition that exceeds the 6-per-cent wage increase for lower-paid workers, was the greatest victory for the union, the spokesman said yesterday.

Powers said the 40 cents clause does not change the cost of the whole package, because some of the higher-paid workers get a slightly lower increase than the lower-paid workers.

The union spokesman said he believes the terms of the contract will inspire other Harvard union workers to demand better terms in their contract negotiations.