PSLM Fights for Labor Posters in Science Center

About 25 students affiliated with the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) gathered in the Science Center arcade Friday to prevent a University official from removing a display posted as part of their Living Wage Campaign.

The students' protest ended successfully as their posters were allowed to stay up over the weekend, pending discussions today with the official, Science Center events coordinator John Mather.

According to the Science Center facilities contract for the event, the posters were supposed to remain up through next week.

The posters told the stories and struggles of anonymous Harvard workers, with the title "Harvard works because we do." The campaign is designed to promote PSLM's Living Wage Campaign.

Greg R. Halpern '99, a recent graduate and PSLM member who designed the posters, said the dispute began when Mather left a message on his answering machine Thursday night informing him that the Science Center posters would have to come down by 5 p.m. Friday.

According to Halpern, when he contacted Mather on Friday he was told that the contract he had for the event was invalid.

"Mather said that they had made a mistake in letting me sign it," Halpern said. Only current undergraduates can officially sign contracts for displays.

"We would have to take the posters down by 5p.m., or they would be taken down for us," he said.

Mather did not return a request for comment.

While Halpern's was the only signature on the contract, an undergraduate was listed as a contact person.

Halpern said that after his conversation with Mather, he met with other members of PSLM to plot a course of action. He ultimately re-contacted Mather and offered various proposals intended to allow the posters to remain.

Benjamin M. Stoll '04, a member of PSLM, said, "We offered to take the posters down for the weekend. We then offered to have someone else from PSLM or someone from Amnesty International sign the contract."

"Anyone could have signed it," Halpern said, but "Mather maintained that it would have to come down."

Ultimately, Halpern and Stoll said, their protest changed Mather's mind. After the group of PSLM members assembled in front of the poster at 4:45 p.m., the deadline for the display's removal was moved back to 6.

Finally, Mather announced that the posters could stay up over the weekend pending a meeting on Monday to discuss the dispute.

The stories presented in the display, were designed to have an impact on viewers, Halpern said.

"These were stories students needed to hear and reflect on," he said.

PSLM members cast Mather's attempt to shorten the display's run by a week as a political move. Their impact was being felt, they said.

"The administration had a reason to fear this," PSLM member Amy C. Offner '01 said. "It's very powerful."