Harvard Proposes 50-Cent Wage Hike For Kitchen Staff

The shop steward of the College dining hall workers union said yesterday that a tentative agreement has been reached between his union and University negotiators, providing for a 50-cent pay raise for all Food Services workers.

Alan L. Balsam of the Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Employees Union, Local 26, said yesterday that the size of the raise and the University's acceptance of a one-year contract were "significant victories for the union."

Mass Meeting

The contract will be presented for ratification to a mass meeting of kitchen employees in September.

Edward Powers, chief University negotiator, said yesterday he would rather not comment on the proposed contract because it has not yet been voted in by the workers.

Balsam said the agreement satisfied the union's two major demands, the raise and the one-year contract. He added that he felt the University had "backed down" because it was concerned that "failing to meet demands might result in some sort of strong reaction by the union."

The previous contract expired July 1, and workers are presently working without one.

The proposed 11-and-a-half-month contract will expire in June 1976.

The agreement provides for a wage increase of 35 cents retroactive to July 1 and a further increase of 15 cents beginning March 1, 1976.

Other Clauses

Additional provisions of the proposed settlement include the formation of a safety committee jointly run by labor and management; double overtime wages for working the seventh day of the week instead of the previous time-and-a-half pay; and eligibility for pension and health plans after 17 work hours per week instead of the previous 22 hours per week.

One clause is intended to protect the workers in the event of an energy-saving extension of the two-week Christmas recess, during which employees normally take their vacations. In such a case the workers would receive full-time pay for any forced layoff time in excess of the two week recess.