Wage Campaign Will Not Hinder Harvard Growth

At a rally held in front of the John Harvard statue last month, City Councillor Jim Braude issued a forceful warning to Harvard on behalf of Cambridge's governing body.

"If Harvard wants to build a new building and comes to the City Council, all nine of us will say, 'Implement a living wage, and we'll talk,'" Braude told the cheering crowd of about 200.

The council has spoken out in favor of Harvard enacting a living wage in the past, but Braude's ultimatum, linking the University's wage policy with the council's stance on Harvard development projects, has won support from neither the majority of the council nor University administrators.

And while city councillors all express support for the living wage and have urged Harvard to act, only a few have voiced support for Braude's threats to halt Harvard's Cambridge development in its tracks.

Living Wage or Else?

All nine councillors are on the record in support of a living wage. Last month the council unanimously passed a resolution calling for Harvard to enact a living wage for all University employees--the second time the council has done so.

Last spring, the council passed a $10 minimum hourly wage for all employees of the city of Cambridge, and recently raised it to $10.25--prompting the Harvard living wage campaign to up its demands.

And while the Ad-Hoc Faculty Committee on Employment Policies will release recommendations to reform University labor policy tomorrow, none of the councillors know what to expect.

But Braude's public challenge, which only Councillor Marjorie C. Decker has echoed, represents a substantial split from the stated views of Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio and other councillors.

"I feel it's a little bit hard to mix apples and oranges and throw zoning in there," says Councillor Henrietta Davis. "Not all the council supports that."

Davis says the living wage should remain a separate issue from the University's development projects.

"The living wage campaign is something that needs to stand on its own merits," Davis says.

Paul S. Grogan, Harvard vice president for government, public and community affairs, says he considers the linking of Harvard development and wage policy by some councillors "unfortunate," but he says it will not influence University policy.

"It wasn't helpful to have those comments, but we're not going to be affected by them one way or the other," he says. "Introducing public threats or ultimatums, that's not a good thing."

Galluccio, who along with Decker met with President Neil L. Rudenstine last week, says enacting a living wage is a "baseline human rights" issue--but not one which will affect the University's development plans.

Part of his duty as mayor, he says, is to engage in a long-term, collaborative dialogue with Harvard.

"My approach is one more of partnership than quid pro quo," Galluccio says. "[I want] Harvard not reacting to the city, but Harvard joining the city."

A Substantial Split?

Braude, however, repeated his more aggressive approach yesterday, saying Harvard's adoption of a living wage is "not a complicated issue."

"Many of us would feel it hard to approve some beautiful new building when somebody working in it is making $8 to $9 an hour," Braude says. "It's hard to accept the notion that the city in which they live and prosper is able to do this and the wealthiest university in the world can't."

Braude says he hopes he won' have to put his rhetoric into action on future council votes about University development projects, however.

"Those who participate in the solution...share in the benefits," Braude says. "Harvard benefits itself [by adopting a living wage]."

But other councillors shy away from Braude and Decker's strong advocacy to force Harvard to face repercussions for its living wage policy and instead attempt to isolate the issue.

Galluccio says he is "not judgmental" of Braude and Decker's approach.

"It certainly reflects the emotions around this issue," he says.

Braude, meanwhile, says that all the councillors have the same goal.

"Everybody is committed to getting from here to there," Braude says. "A lot of us have different routes for the living wage."

The Marriage That Never Ends

Harvard shares a unique and complex relationship with Cambridge, the College's home for 364 years. The world's richest and most powerful university is the city's largest employer, organizes myriad public service projects and recently announced a $10 million initiative for affordable housing.

"There's obviously a lot of good coming from the University," Grogan says.

But to forge ahead with ongoing development projects, like the Knafel Center for Government and International Studies and a modern art museum on the bank of the Charles River, Harvard must win the support of the City Council and other local boards.

Grogan said the council's stance on a living wage will not affect the University's policy regarding development or its continuing relationship with Cambridge.

"It has not disturbed our fundamental outlook," he says. "[Our strategy is that] we should really be working closely with local government on a broad range of issues."

Grogan says Braude's ultimatum on a living wage does not advance the relationship that the University and council have developed.

"We think it's unwarranted based on how important we are to each other," he says.

But Grogan says he respects the council's attempts to influence University policy through less belligerent means.

He says resolutions, meetings and rallies are "fair game" for the council.

"Public pressure and advocacy, demonstrations, whatever--no one's upset about it," he says. "It's just that one dimension."

But Grogan emphasized that the council should not expect to influence internal University policy.

As a private employer, he says, Harvard is responsible for setting its own labor policy, free from constraints imposed by Cambridge.

"While we don't mind if the City Council presses us on this, we don't want to convey the impression that the City Council is setting internal policy for us," he says. "That's not going to happen and there shouldn't be that expectation."

"No one wants to get into the frame of mind that we're responding to directives," Grogan says.

Braude acknowledges that the council can not directly influence the University's policies, but strongly believes in the power each councillor's bully pulpit holds.

"We can't tell them what to do," Braude says. "The City Council has no power other than the bully pulpit to directly affect Harvard's policy on this."

Bigger Fish To Fry

And though they may disagree on the best method to persuade the University to adopt a living wage, councillors agree Harvard's adoption of such a wage has taken far too long.

"I clearly would like to put this issue behind us," Galluccio says. "We have bigger fish to fry."

For two-term former mayor and current Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves '72, the University's resistance to enacting a living wage thus far is indicative of a larger problem.

Reeves says the University took 20 years before it finally implemented divestment in South Africa. More importantly, he says, the University and the city need to have a more "intelligent give and take."

"Harvard offers a large building and hopes to get a smaller building [approved]," Reeves says.

But regardless of the stance Harvard or the City Council takes on a living wage, Grogan says the University still faces an uphill battle in creating new developments.

In addition to the Knafel Center and the art museum, Davis says Harvard is currently working to build a dormitory in the Banks Street area near Mather House and erect a new building in the parking lot adjacent to Hammond Street north of the Science Center.

Grogan says the lengthy zoning procedures and extensive community involvement slow and often prohibit potential projects.

"It's difficult for anyone to get anything built in Cambridge," he says. "It's not affected by a living wage--it's just the reality."

Galluccio, however, says that through meetings such as the one he had with Rudenstine last week, he is trying to strengthen town-gown relations as best he can.

"It was a helpful meeting and I think we need to do more of that," Galluccio says. "I think it's time we stood together and set some goals and worked together to implement those goals."