University May Charge Union With Misconduct

University officials said they are still considering whether to file charges that the newly-elected Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) coerced voters during the election.

Anne H. Taylor, the University lawyer who heads the anti-union campaign, said yesterday that several staff members have complained that the union was organizing near the polling areas and keeping lists of employees who had voted.

Last Tuesday after the union won the election by a close margin, Taylor announced that the University might file such a complaint. University officials have not made a final decision since they want to be certain that the charge is legitimate and serious enough to merit holding a recall election, Taylor said.

"It would be very bad from the University's point of view to make allegations which were frivolous," Taylor said. "I would not want to do anything to unsettle this decision unless there is substantial cause to do so."

The University has until next Tuesday to file its complaints with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which will investigate the charge.

If the NLRB representatives find the charges justified and that the alleged misconduct affected the election's outcome, it will hold hearings to determine whether another election should be held.

Kris Rondeau, HUCTW's director, called the University's claim of misconduct "sour grapes," and said she did not think it would file an official complaint.

Rondeau denied that union supporters were lobbying near polling areas, or that they were coercing voters by keeping lists of how they had cast their votes, since the lists were compiled in the HUCTW office.

But Taylor said she has received several calls from people who said they saw union organizers with clipboards in workplaces, keeping track of who voted and how.

"This was supposed to be a secret ballot election," said Taylor, adding that staff members might have been afraid to vote against the union, worrying that if HUCTW won they would be treated unfairly.

"We didn't do anything illegal," said organizer Marie Manna. "I certainly hope they decide not to press this issue."

Manna said the union has also received complaints from staff who said that University representatives were sitting on the steps outside of polling places and that a personnel officer was wandering in and out of the Business School polling place.

"We will not file any complaints unless we have to," Manna said. She said that the union would only consider filing their complaints if the University did.

But Robert H. Scott, the University's financial vice president, said he had not heard anything about these charges and was not aware of any misconduct on the University's part.