Unions Complain Of Labor Practices

Members of the Coalition of Harvard Unions demonstrated Wednesday in front of Holyoke Center to Protest what they said were unfair labor employment practices by the Harvard administration.

The protest, organized by Harvard unions and the Committee for Economic Change (CEC), a Phillips Brooks House group, was attended by more than 350 people, according to union estimates.

Donene Williams, president of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW), said the unions hoped to persuade the administration to stop contracting with non-union firms.

"The goal of the rally was to get the administration to talk about the contracting out of work to nonunion companies," said Williams. "We've been trying to negotiate that point for over two years."

The final straw, according to a press release provided by Williams, was the awarding of a $3 million contract for the renovation of Lowell Lecture Hall to an outside contractor.

The contract, the construction unions contend, violates a University agreement to distribute more construction jobs to unionized firms.

Two years ago, the unions agreed to a 10-percent pay cut on Yard renovation work in return for a promise to hire only unionized construction firms for work on the Yard renovation and Holyoke Center.

The 1991 Project Labor Agreement, according to Williams, implied that the University would allot more jobs to the unions in projects not explicitly designated in the agreement. The University has said the agreement did not cover projects other than the Yard and Holyoke Center jobs.

Williams blamed the decentralization of Harvard's decision-making process for what she called an uneven implementation of the agreement. In particular, she claimed that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences handed out more projects on a non-union basis to employers who pay substandard wages and who do not offer benefits like health insurance and on-the-job training.

After the protest rally, a group of unionleaders and students marched to Massachusetts Hallwith over 1400 signatures of support from studentsand workers. There, they spoke with Michael W.Roberts, assistant to the President and Secretaryof the University.

Katie B. Feiock '96 was among the students inthe CEC student delegation.

"We owe a lot to the workers of Harvard,"Feiock said. "The growing practice of employers,including Harvard, in employing part-time workersto reduce costs in unfair."

But Harvard's director of labor relations,Timothy R. Manning, insisted the Universityadministration was doing all it could to awardcontracts to union firms.

"I'm not specifically sure what their goalsare, but we will try to accommodate the best wecan," he said.

Manning said the awarding of the Lowell Hallcontract was strictly a business decision.

"I can tell you the non-union contract awardwas made after considerations of quality andsignificant price differences," he said

After the protest rally, a group of unionleaders and students marched to Massachusetts Hallwith over 1400 signatures of support from studentsand workers. There, they spoke with Michael W.Roberts, assistant to the President and Secretaryof the University.

Katie B. Feiock '96 was among the students inthe CEC student delegation.

"We owe a lot to the workers of Harvard,"Feiock said. "The growing practice of employers,including Harvard, in employing part-time workersto reduce costs in unfair."

But Harvard's director of labor relations,Timothy R. Manning, insisted the Universityadministration was doing all it could to awardcontracts to union firms.

"I'm not specifically sure what their goalsare, but we will try to accommodate the best wecan," he said.

Manning said the awarding of the Lowell Hallcontract was strictly a business decision.

"I can tell you the non-union contract awardwas made after considerations of quality andsignificant price differences," he said