Latinos Rally Against Layoffs

A picket-wielding, slogan-chanting crowd of 60 marched from the Holyoke Center to the Biological Labs on Divinity Avenue yesterday in a rally to support four Latino Harvard workers. The four employees were given layoff notices in October which were later rescinded by the University for the time being.

The workers, who were also present at the rally, allege that their intended layoffs from their jobs washing cages at the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) department were motivated by race.

“Harvard, listen! We are in the fight!” the protesters chanted in Spanish.

The lunchtime rally, the first on-the-street protest held in response to the layoffs, was led by the Harvard Coalition for Respect and Equality at Work (CREW).

Protestors picketed and marched to the rhythm of a bucket drum staccato, soda can maracas, and nearby Salvation Army bells.

The ralliers continued through Harvard Yard, dispersing fliers, which detailed CREW’s demands, to students and other bystanders.

The group’s requests include no layoffs of any MCB workers, no English-only policies, and equal opportunity for the hiring and promotion of Latino workers.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Associate Dean for Human Resources Geoffrey Peters said that Harvard has yet to decide if the workers will keep their jobs in the long term.

“Regarding claims of ethnic discrimination, we take such accusations very seriously,” he wrote in an e-mail. “We have asked the Harvard University Office of Labor Relations to investigate these claims and they are in the process of doing so as quickly and judiciously as possible.”

The procession paused at multiple points for protestors to take turns at the megaphone to give speeches, which were translated into Spanish by Diana C. Montoya-Fontalvo ’07.

“This is bigger than just a rally,” Jose G. Olivarez ’10, a CREW member who spoke at the event, later told The Crimson.

“Discrimination cannot be tolerated, especially at a university that promotes itself as one that is diverse and open to all cultures,” he said.

Latino workers at Harvard “have had their food and clothing sprayed with Fantastik cleaner” and “have repeatedly been ordered not to speak Spanish at work,” according to Geoffrey Carens, a Harvard library assistant and member of CREW and the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW).

Fuerza Latina, HUCTW, Student Labor Action Movement, Latino Men’s Collective, Harvard College Democrats, and the Radcliffe Union of Students were also represented at the rally.