Union Official Criticizes University Shift

The chief organizer of a nine seat effort to unionize clerical and technical workers at the Medical Area charged yesterday that a recent restructuring of University personnel offices was a deliberate attempt to undercut the union's campaign.

Kristine Rondeau, a local organizer lot District 65 of the United Auto Workers said Harvard administrators incorporated the Medical Area's personnel office into the University's general personnel office for the sole purpose of hampering the union's effort to hold an election at the Medical Area.

The Medical Area has been considered a separate bargaining unit from the rest of the University since a 1977 National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruling. The recent reorganization of personnel offices would make that ruling invalid. Daniel D. Cantor, the University's director of personnel, said yesterday.

The NIRB based its ruling in part on the fact that the Medical Area had a separate personnel office Cantor noted.

If the entire University were a single bargaining unit. District 65 would almost certainly be unable to win the 30 percent worker support required to hold a union election.

Cantor said this week that the University's reason for relocating the Medical Area personnel office was not to overturn the 1977 ruling.

If the University simply wanted to challenge the ruling, it would have done so long ago. Daniel Steiner '53, the University's general counsel, said yesterday.

The University relocated the Medical Area office "to give the best possible and most cost effective personnel service throughout the University," a February memo from Cantor states.

But the memo which announced the decision to restructure the offices, also states that the move will "result in the removal of a key factor" from the 1977 NLRB decision.

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Medical Area workers voted in April not to make District 65 then bargaining agent by a tally of 390 to 328. The NLRB agreed in February to review that vote to see it the University unfairly influenced the election

If the NLRB orders a new the election. Harvard will ask the board to reconsider the bargaining unit's status Steiner said

Eugene Fisner, the District 65 lawyer handling the Harvard campaign, said last week he knew of no precedent for a rescheduled election taking place in a different unit from the original election