HUCTW Ratifies Agreement to Extend Contract

In a vote held on March 5, members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) ratified an agreement with the University to extend their contract through June 30, 2001. The vote was 82 percent for ratification.

The terms of the new agreement will provide for salary increases and the continuation of existing policies and programs and for some additional time off in the form of four weeks of paid leave for HUCTW new fathers or adoptive parents, and 3.5 days of paid personal leave for HUCTW members in conjunction with the Christmas holidays in December 1999 and December 2000. (This last provision will also extend to exempt staff.)

In addition, the University has agreed to increase contributions by $10,000 each year to the current HUCTW Child Care Fund, and $5,000 each year to the current HUCTW Education Fund, and to continue to fund the HUCTW Adoption Assistance Fund at $6,000 per year.

Polly Price, associate vice president for human resources, sees the contract as a positive step in improving the University's attraction to those who have family obligations. "Both the parental leave policy and the added time off during the Christmas holiday that are part of this agreement are the kinds of policies that the Work and Family Advisory Committee and others have been advocating for some time. They will offer some relief to those who are juggling their personal and professional responsibilities."

Under the HUCTW parental leave policy, new adoptive parents or birth fathers may use a combination of available vacation or personal time, up to four weeks of paid "parental leave" (70 percent of pay for staff with less than 7 years of service and 100 percent of pay for staff with over 7 years of service), and unpaid leave, for a total of up to 13 weeks of leave. This spring, the University Benefits Committee (UBC) will assess the feasibility of extending this benefit to administrative and professional employees.

The new contract extension also calls for revitalization of the Joint Councils, including an evaluation of the Harvard-HUCTW relationship by the University Joint Council in spring 1998 and joint training sessions for members of Joint Councils in each school and department.

Bill Jaeger, HUCTW director, says "We're very excited about entering a period when our union and the University can work hard together to strengthen the Joint Council process. We believe the joint councils have a great deal of potential for generating new ideas about working together to make Harvard work better and become a better place to work."

Harvard designees to the University Joint Council will be John Deeley, administrative dean for finance and operations, HMS; Martha Minow, a Harvard Law School professor; Geoffrey Peters, associate dean for administrative resources, FAS; Polly Price, associate vice president for human resources; Robert Scalise, associate dean for administration, senior executive officer, HBS; and Anne Taylor, vice president and general counsel.

HUCTW represents approximately 3,500 clerical and technical support staff. This is the second time the union's contract has been extended since it became effective as a three-year agreement in July 1995. On Feb. 13, 1997, the union membership voted to extend the contract through June, 1999. That agreement included a provision to delay implementation of part-time health and dental rates for HUCTW-represented employees during the balance of calendar year 1997 while the issue was reviewed by both the UBC and the Joint Benefits Committee (JBC), composed of HUCTW and University representatives. It also called for a cooperative union/University effort to improve the administration of the Short-term Disability Plan. Ultimately, the UBC and the JBC, which is composed of HUCTW and University representatives, recommended that all benefits-eligible employees, whether part-time or full-time, would receive contributions to their health benefits based on their full-time equivalent salary.