Rally for New Union Draws 400

In their first major public demonstration, organizers of a proposed union for Harvard's clerical and technical workers rallied for support yesterday and unveiled petitions signed by 1000 Harvard employees who favor unionization.

At the 400-person gathering at the Old Cambridge Baptist Church, members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) called for a vote next year that--if successful--would certify them as the official representatives of the University's only remaining non-unionized employees.

The HUCTW, founded last August after a split with the local chapter of the United Auto Workers Union (UAW), would include Harvard's 3500 clerical and technical workers, 83 percent of whom are women.

1986 "is the year when a diverse group of 3500 workers at Harvard will join together to make history that no one will forget," HUCTW organizer Kris Rondeau told yesterday's gathering.

HUCTW organizers said they have a 350-member organizing committee. The group will not call a vote until the committee has been expanded to 650 employees, Rondeau said.

But the Harvard chapter of the United Auto Workers (UAW), which has led a rival campaign to unionize clerical and technical workers, plans this fall to call its own vote for official status, UAW organizer Barbara Rahke said yesterday.

However, HUCTW organizers contend that the UAW does not have enough support to call a fall vote. "They're trying to figure out how to pull out gracefully," Rondeau said in an interview.

The UAW has "a core group" of about 35 supporters, said Rahke.

At yesterday's event, HUCTW members announced plans to broaden community support by distributing 25,000 leaflets this Saturday in area mailboxes.

Several community leaders voiced their support for the unionizing campaign at the rally.

"If any institution needs to be taught respect, I will tell you it is this one," Eighth Congressional District Candidate George Bachrach told the gathering.

City Councilor Sheila Russell, the wife of former Mayor Leonard J. Russell, said at the rally that she will introduce a resolution supporting HUCTW's efforts "to achieve dignity and democracy in the workplace."