PSLM Holds 'Welcome' for Summers

In a Friday rally billed as a “community welcome” for University President Lawrence H. Summers, Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) speakers pointed to a “community consensus” for change in Harvard’s labor policies—even though the guest of honor was not in attendance.

The event, held at Holyoke Center after a last-minute compromise with the University, touched on familiar topics—a living wage, outsourcing, health care and housing costs. Scheduled to start before the 2 p.m. installation, the rally drew several union groups, including Carpenters Local 40, the Association of Flight Attendants and the Area Trades Council, which represents workers from Harvard’s Facilities Maintenance Operations division.

Local 40 business agent Joe Power called for a permanent end to outsourcing—which has been halted since the end of last spring’s PSLM sit-in—and for Harvard to fully unionize its work force.

“We’re looking for Summers to do the right thing here,” he said.

Jessica A. Fragola ’04 said the cost of implementing such a wage would be about $10 million—a small sum, she said, compared with the University’s $18.3 billion endowment.

“It’s obviously not going to cut into any important programs,” she said.

Fragola called for “a commitment to justice, not a commitment to committees”—alluding to the Katz Committee, whose report to Summers on labor issues is due to arrive in late December. PSLM members have repeatedly said they hope the committee will recommend a living wage.

Although organizers said Summers had been invited and briefly asked if he was in the audience, the only instructor to take the microphone was Tom Jehn, an Expository Writing preceptor. Amid what he termed the “carnivalesque” atmosphere of the installation, Jehn urged community members to focus on PSLM’s issues.

“I hope we’re not forgetting that there are thousands of workers who keep this University going every day,” he said.

As the rally wound down, the crowd of more than 100 dispersed and fanned out along Mass. Ave. and into the Yard to listen to the installation speeches.

A block away from Holyoke Center, PSLM members Benjamin L. McKean ’02, Stephen N. Smith ’02 and Gabriel A. Katsh ’04 approached Harvard Corporation members D. Ronald Daniel and Herbert S. “Pug” Winokur ’64-’65, who were sitting outside Toscanini’s cafe.

McKean said he asked whether the Corporation members—who have been the targets of intense lobbying by PSLM members—had any questions about PSLM. Daniel and Winokur declined to discuss labor policy with PSLM members, saying they were already familiar with the PSLM’s issues and that their role at the installation would prevent them from being able to carry on a discussion.

—Staff writer Ross A. Macdonald can be reached at jrmacdon@fas.harvard.edu.