Labor Accords Reached Over The Summer

September 16, 1999

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HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES

Harvard reached a contract agreement this summer with the union representing security guards and parking and museum attendants, and secured a tentative agreement (pending ratification by the union membership) with the union representing police.

The University also made significant progress in resolving issues concerning casual and contracted employees who work for the University on a short-term basis.

Polly Price, associate vice president for human resources, is pleased with the summer's efforts. "It’s been a remarkably productive period. We have new agreements with two of our unions and have contributed to a massive data-gathering and analysis effort that will enable us to resolve issues regarding Harvard’s ‘contingent workforce.’ We’ve been meeting regularly with the HUCTW (Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers) through the summer to discuss issues related to casual employees who could potentially be members of that union. At the same time, we have complied with requests for information from the Ad Hoc Committee on Employment Policies, which has met six times since last April."

The contract agreements, reached with the Harvard University Security, Parking and Museum Guards’ Union (HUSPMGU) and the Harvard University Police Association (HUPA), affect about 150 of Harvard’s 4,658 unionized workers. About a third of Harvard’s workforce is unionized.

The agreement with HUSPMGU was reached earlier in the summer. It provides additional job security and preserves wages and benefits for existing personnel. It also restructures and increases the previous wage schedule, and provides voluntary early retirement and severance packages for those wishing to pursue employment outside the University.

Harvard also reached a tentative agreement with the Harvard University Police Association, which represents 51 Harvard University Police officers. The new agreement, pending ratification by HUPA members, provides annual wage increases, clarifies the authority of the chief to establish work schedules in conjunction with the department’s emphasis on community policing, and runs through July 31, 2002.

In July, the University and the HUCTW issued a joint statement disclosing that "some of Harvard’s casual employees may have inadvertently been permitted to work beyond the limits defined by established University policy" and announcing their intention to work together "on several fronts to resolve this matter as expeditiously as possible." This joint effort has continued through the summer.

Meanwhile, the Ad Hoc Committee on Employment Policies appointed by President Neil L. Rudenstine in April has continued to gather the data it needs as a basis for its continuing discussions of the University’s future policies for its contingent workforce. According to Sally Zeckhauser, vice president for administration, "There are many administrative safeguards in place to ensure that practices with respect to regular employees are consistent with the University’s policies. We need to do the same for those who work here on a short-term basis. Harvard has an obligation to ensure that all employees are treated fairly and in accordance with University policy and other requirements."

President Rudenstine has said that "a thorough analysis, by several groups within Harvard, has been underway to assess the scope of this situation. The work by staff and faculty has gone forward in a careful, thorough, and objective way. As soon as this analysis has been completed, we will have concrete recommendations designed to resolve the matters at hand as well as to ensure full and consistent future compliance with University policy and all applicable regulations."

Status of Talks with other Harvard Unions
Negotiations with the Maintenance Trades Council for a new collective bargaining agreement are continuing. The council represents four unions whose members are plumbers, carpenters, electricians, and electrical engineers.

In addition, the University will begin negotiations this fall with the Graphics Communications International Union and the Service Employees’ International Union, whose contracts expire in November.

Contracts for Harvard’s two other unions, HUCTW and the Hotel Employees’, Restaurant Employees’ International Union, Local 26, run through 2001.