Union Holds Annual Elections

The executive board of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) met to choose a new board yesterday, just one week before the entire union votes on several issues.

All seats on the board except one were uncontested, said Union President Donene Williams. In the only contested race, Tom Canel and August Leppelmeier ran for representative of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences district. The 13-member HUCTW board is made up of representatives of five different districts of the University.

Williams would not announce the names of any of the new board members.

The members of HUCTW were elected to represent Harvard support staff in 1988, following a 17-year organizing campaign marked by conflict with the University. Union leaders estimate they represent 3500 workers at Harvard's various schools and administrative departments.

After a brief dispute over certification, the union became the official staff representative in November 1988. The contract for operation between the union and Harvard was heralded by many in the organized labor movement as a model for future unions.

Most recently, the costs of unionization became apparent when Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) Henry Rosovsky attributed a $2 million cost to higher salaries and expanded benefits negotiated in the June 1989 contract but not fully anticipated in the 1990 budget plan.

Currently, HUCTW membership stands at 73 percent of eligible employees, according to Kris Rondeau, leader of the original campaign to organize Harvard's support staff.

When the union holds its general membership meeting next week, it will discuss and vote on items of business, Williams said. One of the proposals for the meeting is "to join with other unions to form a coalition" of unions at Harvard, she said.