Petition Asks Neutrality in Union Debate

More than 1000 undergraduate and graduate students have signed a petition urging the University to be neutral in the upcoming vote on unionization of Harvard's 4000 clerical and technical workers, petition supporters said yesterday.

The petition, sponsored by the Committee for Economic Change (CEC), asks the University not to engage in anti-union activities and not to delay the union election, said Kimberly F. Ladin '87-'88, co-chairman of CEC.

The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) has been working to unionize University support staff for 16 years, and nizers recently announced that the majority of workers would vote in favor of having HUCTW as their union.

HUCTW leaders have not yet asked for an official vote but have said they will do so in the next few weeks.

Currently, "the University is carrying on a heavy-handed extensive anti-union campaign and strongly misrepresenting what's going on," said Lucan A. Way '90, co-chairman of CEC.

The Harvard administration is starting to hold anti-union meetings on worktime and is trying to convince supervisors to work against the union drive and to encourage workers to go to anti-union lectures, Ladin said.

In late November and December, members of CEC, assisted by the Harvard Democrats and Democratic Socialists of America, tabled for signatures in all the houses and the Freshman Union, Way said.

Currently, CEC is asking student organizations to endorse the neutrality petition and "passing it [the petition] in an informal basis," Ladin said. In addition, students at the Divinity School, Law School, and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences are also collecting signatures, she said.

The committee plans "to keep collecting signatures until the time comes when it's important," Ladin said. CEC will submit its petition to the administration near the time when HUCTW asks for an official vote on unionization, she said.

Although the petition writers sought advice from HUCTW and CEC supports unionization, the peti- tion does not endorse the union, Way said. "Itis not a political petition," he said.

"You don't sign the petition because you wantthe Union to win," Way said. "You sign it becauseyou don't want workers to beunfairly coerced."

The petition concerns "a moral issue of basicdecency," Ladin said.

"The student response to the petition has beenvery positive," Way said. However, "the people whodo not support it are not willing to listen to ourargument," he added.

Another purpose of the petition "is to getpeople to know what's going on," said Way, "It'snot just an issue of clerical workers, there's alarger issue of the unfair practices and powerstructure of Harvard."

Other pro-union activities of CEC includehelping to organize a pro-union rally last month,Undergraduate Council members who are meeting withthe Harvard Corporation and sending students towork in the union office, Ladin said