Mayor Advocates Wage Increase

In its first major action of the year, the Living Wage Campaign attracted over 150 students and community members on Friday to hear Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55 speak, to march around University Hall, and to dump bags of trash around the John Harvard statue.

Protesters first assembled at the Science Center, where the mayor, rally organizers and union members addressed the crowd.

"Meals need to be served, grass needs to be cut, floors need to be cleaned, and we're proud of the workers here that are doing it," Duehay said. "They should make enough money to bring up their families and have a decent place to live."

After listening to speeches at the Science Center, protesters marched around University Hall chanting and waving banners, and stopped at the statue of John Harvard.

Organizers gave the statue a broom, a dustpan and a T-shirt reading "Janitor for a living wage," and union members tossed bags of trash at his feet.

Friday's rally marked the first time this semester that the Living Wage Campaign has organized a major public event.

The campaign, which is spearheaded by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), staged a series of rallies and events last spring calling for a minimum wage of $10 per hour for all Harvard employees.

"For the last year we've been embarrassing the administration, for the last year we've been rallying student support, for the last year we've been talking to union members--we're here today to tell Harvard that we won't quit," said PSLM member Stephen N. Smith '02.

Cambridge passed a $10 minimum wage for all city employees last spring, and Duehay said the symbolic value of Harvard taking a similar step would be even greater.

"The University sets an example for us all," he said. "They set an example for businesses, corporations, MIT--everyone looks to this institution."

The campaign organized the rally in support of the University's janitors, who are currently embroiled in contract negotiations with the administration.

Harvard pays its janitors $8.15 to $9.05 per hour--$16,300 to $18,100 per year--which union members say is not enough to provide for a family.

"We want to say that we are working hard to keep the school clean, but we need something back to support our families," custodial crew chief Freud Saint-Cyr told the crowd.

Union members also said they are afraid the University will turn to subcontracted workers, as many of Harvard's security guards were recently outsourced.

About 25 janitors attended the rally, bearing signs that read, "Greed is a disease and Harvard is a sick institution," and chanting, "Hey Harvard, you've got cash, why do you pay your workers trash?"

Speakers expressed disbelief that an institution with an endowment exceeding $14 billion refuses to pay its workers a living wage.

"Harvard has just been through a great campaign to support its endowment, but part of this money should support the wages of all the people who work at this university," Duehay said.

PSLM members said threats of outsourcing and a faculty task force created last spring are attempts by the administration to "silence" protests, but they vowed to continue their efforts.

Plans are already in the works for a major event for mid-November, on par with March's "Rally for Justice," which attracted almost 400 students.

Rally organizer Molly E. McOwen '02 called Friday a "warm-up" for the next event and a way to inform incoming students about the campaign.

"It's something that we wanted to do to get ready for the upcoming rally in November," she said. "We've been trying to pull together people--a lot of new people have never heard of the living wage idea, and it's important to get the word out."

Duehay said he was proud of students' efforts and remained optimistic about the campaign.

"I feel very, very confident that Harvard will do what they know is right," he said.