Union Support Rebounds After Judge Upholds Victory

Last week support staff who had voted for the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) in May said they had lost their enthusiasm for the union.

But this week, in the wake of a federal judge's decision to uphold last spring's union victory, the same employees support for HUCTW surged.

Labor experts say that unions generally lose backing if there is a delay between an election and contract negotiations. After Harvard challenged the union's victory, that prediction seemed to come true: employees said they were less concerned about unionization because they saw union organizers less frequently and they didn't believe that the union would ever be recognized.

Yet Monday's announcement that the union win would stand reactivated union activism--as discussions about union issues spread through the workplace and support staff expressed renewed interest in contract negotiations.

"Since the election, I had begun to think of the whole union thing as a dream, and I don't have time for dreams," said one employee, who requested anonymity. "But now that it seems real again--now that I know the union isstill around--I'm excited to get a contract."

In the last few months, employee sympathies forthe union waned, and at the same time workers saidthey were seeing less of the one-on-one organizingfor which HUCTW is noted.

However, this week, union organizers havecovered the campus with balloons and posters, andsupport staff members report that HUCTWrepresentatives have been much more visible in theworkplace.

Labor experts and union organizers said theresurgence of support also can be traced back topre-election organizing strengths, the emotionssurrounding the union campaign, and renewed presscoverage of HUCTW.

"A union organizing campaign is an experimentin building momentum," said Business School laborexpert Charles Heckscher. "It's so important tothe union and to the public eye that althoughmomentum has been lost, it can be built up againquickly."

After HUCTW won a support staff referendum lastspring, the University contested the validity ofthe vote, accusing organizers of illegalelectioneering. The union victory has been tied upin legal dispute since then; although Judge JoelA. Harmatz upheld the union victory Monday,Harvard may appeal that decision, delayingcontract negotiations indefinitely.

This fall union activity had been very quiet.HUCTW put up fewer posters and banners aroundcampus, and support staff said that unionorganizers, who used to meet with them every dayin the spring, rarely visited their offices.

Only 500 people attended a HUCTW rally lastweek, compared to more than 700 at a Februaryrally and 650 in May. Publicity for the rally wasnotably toned down, with fewer posters aroundcampus. At Lamont Library, typically one of theunion's strongholds, there was not a single sign.

Because the union won the spring election by anarrow margin of less than one percent of the 3400support staff, swing votes--which are the easiestvotes to lose--were key to the victory. Laborexperts say that unions often lose strength duringlegal delays, because uncertain voters changetheir minds.

HUCTW support also may have been cut by thehigh summer turnover of clerical and technicalworkers, in which more than one-third of thoseeligible for union membership left their jobs.

But labor experts said this week that HUCTW'sgrassroots campaign--which involved one-on-onemeetings between employees and organizers,lunchtime discussion groups and a core of 18full-time organizers who talked every day withemployees--may have reignited interest in theunion.

"This was an unusual campaign," said DaleMelcher, a labor expert at University ofMassachusetts at Amherst. "It was pegged on verypersonal issues and the organizing techniques madethe workers feel like part of an effort."

"Most campaigns hold an election and thencreate a union," said Kris Rondeau, HUCTW'sleader. "We created a union and then held anelection. The employees are alredy a union, andthey know it.