Negotiations to Use HUCTW as Model

The University's agreement with the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers will serve as a model for future union negotiations on campus, the president of the Harvard University Police Association said yesterday.

"The University settling with the clerical worker's union is going to affect each and every other union when it comes to negotiations," said union president Richard Mederos, who is currently renegotiating the police officers' contract with Harvard. "What you gave them, you will have to give to the rest."

Under the current police contract, which expires July 31, police officers automatically receive the same benefits the University grants to other hourly-wage employees, including the clerical workers. These benefits--including life insurance. medical insurance and disability insurance--granted to the clerical workers will automatically become a part of the new police contract, Mederos said.

Negotiations between HUPA and the University are scheduled to continue tomorrow, after more than a month of delays. The last contract was ironed out in October, 1986, after 22 months of talks described by Mederos as "stormy."

"The University has indicated strongly that they wish to negotiate in good faith," Mederos said. "This time, we've got a better response to our positions. It is a big attitude change from the University."

The focus of the police union's negotiations will be on quality-of-life benefits, according to Mederos.

A more flexible work week, one of the major issues which stalled talks in 1986, is once again high on the list of the police union's demands.

The union is also looking for pension increases and education and longevity payments, which would grant bonuses to officers based on the educational degrees they have earned and the time they have served on the force, Mederos said.

"These benefits are some of the things that were never asked for years by the Harvard police that are now seen in every police contract in most municipalities and university police departments," Mederos said.

An increase in vacation time for junior officers is another key issue for the police union, Mederos said. Currently, members of the Harvard University Police have the right to take two weeks vacation per year until they have served in the force for a minimum of five years, when they receive three weeks vacation.

"Overall, what we're looking for is a better quality of life," Mederos said.