Union Workers Ratify Contract

Members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers voted overwhelmingly last week to ratify a new contract agreement with the University.

Ninety-three percent of members who voted in last Thursday's election were in favor of the agreement, according to preliminary results compiled by the union's elections committee. Union Director Bill Jaeger said about two thirds of the union's 3,500 members cast ballots in the election at 14 polling sites.

"I'm very happy, both with the high turnout and with the high `yes' vote," said union President Donene M. Williams.

The three-year contract, which the union and the University announced earlier this month, includes improved job security, progression and annual pay increases. The average worker who now earns $23,000 a year will earn $26,660 by July 1994, according to the union.

Williams described the vote as "the last step on this contract, the first step on the next one."

The vote, combined with turnouts at union rallies during the lengthy contract negotiations, was interpreted as a sign that union members strongly support their leadership and the negotiating team that represented them in the contract talks.

"This vote is a celebration of our strength as a union," Williams said.

Jaeger said the clerical and technical workers "have overwhelmingly affirmed our union's goal of building a Harvard where employees participate in decisions and make constant economic progress."

Williams said there was no organized opposition to the contract, and that the individuals who voted against the contract did so for reasons that varied from person to person.