B&G Workers Approve New Contract

Between 50 and 60 Faculty members have signed a statement of support for food service workers currently involved in negotiations with the University for a new contract, one of the organizers of the petition drive said yesterday.

Chairman of the History Department John Womack Jr. '59, said that he and three other professors circulated a letter among Faculty members in early June, informing them of the negotiations, providing a fact sheet, and asking them to sign a statement of support.

"The main thing is that we thought that it was important that the union and the employees know that there were faculty who were sympathetic to them," Womack said.

Negotiations over the contract to replace a three-year pact that recently expired resumed last week following a brief one-day strike and sit-in by workers. Those actions capped off months of delays and disagreements between Harvard and Local 26 of the International Hotel, Restaurant--and Bartenders Union, which represents the dining hall workers and is one of the most militant of the unions at the University.

Much of the disagreement has focused on procedural matters, such as whether to open the talks to the public and press. While the union and Harvard have reached agreement on several key issues negotiators have yet to resolve disputes over the workers' demands for free medical and dental benefits, and anti-discrimination and seniority provisions.

Earlier in the spring, the University's chief negotiator, Edward W. Powers, downplayed support given the contract at Wednesday's meeting when a large majority of the more than 200 workers present voted in favor of the agreement. Joseph Nigro, a member of the union negotiating committee, estimated 80 percent supported the agreement.

But several B&G employees interviewed before the contract vote said that they would vote against the agreement, going so far as to endorse a strike to protest the proposed elimination of the nation of the maintenance positions.

The workers maintained that they would have less job security and fewer benefits under another employer. "I came to Harvard for security, not for the big backs they're offering," one man, who indicated that he had worked for B&G for 19 years, said Wednesday. The new contract, agreed to after several months of generally calm negotiations, calls for an eight percent pay increase for all workers.

Inefficiency?

Despite disagreements over whether to accept the contract, both workers and union officials cited inefficient administration of B&G as the prime reason for the subcontracting plan

"There are too many bosses, but Harvard is afraid to eliminate the overhead," one worker said Wednesday Another agreed, adding "If they cut them, we could stay."

Workers said they fear the current structure of the organization to contract out even more work that is currently done by B&G, thereby cutting more positions than now being considered for elimination.

But Powers yesterday rejected that notion, saying the structural jobs the University now plans to subcontract are "a completely different problem" than other maintenance work. While other maintenance work is speed throughout the year, the jobs in question are primarily outside repair tanks clustered in the warm weather months, he explained.

"We need flexibility and expertise greater than what we have now," Powers said.

Powers added that under President Bok, the University has worked to make its internal service operations competitive with outside businesses and that Harvard has consistently failed to offer competitive outdoor maintenance work.

Nigro yesterday blamed the B&G administration for this alleged problem claiming that the department has 150 mangagers for 306 workers.

"The workers can't get a fair contract carrying 150 management people with them," he said. "No company could run with that nation."

But Robert Saltonstall, associate vice president for operations and acting director of B&G, said yesterday administrative costs were not the primary reason the University decided to subcontract the structural work, adding the Nigar's personel figures "were not really accurate."

Precies figures for the various employee categories at B&G were unavailable.

While the department is "trying to reduce administrative costs, the University is not currently considering subcontracting other B&G work," he added.

Saltonstall took acting control of the department last November when the University launched an ongoing comprehensive study of its internal maintenance service, in response to widespread complaints of mismanagement.

While increased decentralization has improved the department's responsiveness, the University must still establish tighter financial control over the service, Saltonstall said