HUCTW To Select New President Contested Race

As the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) elects its new officers and executive board today, only one of the 15 seats--the presidency--is contested.

The two candidates, Adrienne Landau, who works at the University Health Services Center for Wellness, and Tom Potter, a faculty secretary at the Law School, have been members of HUCTW since it was founded 10 years ago.

Outgoing HUCTW President Domene M. Williams has endorsed Landau, who has served on the union's executive board.

Williams, who has been HUCTW president since the union's founding, is running for treasurer in an uncontested race. She and Potter ran in the last presidential race, when Williams captured 80 percent of the vote.

Landau and Williams--who are running as a ticket along with uncontested vice-presidential candidate Gloria Buffonge and secretarial candidate Thomasin Guenard--named increasing union members' participation in workplace decisions as a keystone of their platform.

They also said the University needs to increase volunteer opportunities in the community for its employees and expand hiring opportunities at Harvard for community members.

Ready to be relieved of the responsibilities of the presidency, Williams said she plans to study Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) during her term as treasurer. She said the number of HUCTW members with RSI has grown over the past few years as they have begun to depend on computers in all parts of their lives.

Landau said such fundamental concerns as workplace design and training, as well as consistent progress in wages and benefits, would be important during her tenure.

But her opponent, Potter, said the union is not structured properly to represent its membership's views. Potter advocates using a regular monthly newsletter, as well as a Web site, to open the lines of communication between the union's members and its leaders.

"I will survey the membership and see what they want in their next contract," Potter said.

Potter agreed with most of the planks of Landau's platform. He said he would like to see Harvard share some of its wealth with employees in the form of increased wages and health benefits. Potter also said the University should place greater weight on seniority when hiring for new positions.

He added that senior staff should have the same benefits as faculty and students at the University, such as library borrowing privileges.

Landau and Potter, who said he is a member of a union reform group, disagree on the nature of the union's relationship with University management.

"I consider myself a partner to the membership, but also a partner to the management," Landau said, nothing that union leaders conduct regular discussions with both union members and University officials.

Potter disagreed, citing the last extension of HUCTW's contract in March 1998, when union members approved a contract extension that had not been negotiated by an elected team. Williams said then that the contract needed to be negotiated quickly before the departure of the University's director of labor relations in order to capitalize on past successes.

Potter said he wants to use the full power of the union to negotiate with the University, rather than the ongoing meditation system HUCTW currently uses.

"We have this vague way of resolving disagreements between labor and management," Potter said. "I would like to see a more traditional union."

HUCTW members can vote today at more than 40 polling places near their offices. In addition to the officer elections, there are also district races for representatives to the executive board.

About 35 to 45 percent of HUCTW's 2,900 members generally vote in the officer elections, according to Williams.