Students Planning Eat-In at Union

Student leaders upset by what they call the University's "unfair" treatment of its unionized workers are planning an eat-in at the Harvard Union on Wednesday to foster broader support of their efforts.

The students, who have spent the last week distributing flyers and circulating petitions, are targeting their protest at the Harvard Dining Services (HDS), citing allegedly discriminatory and harassing management practices at the College's 13 dining halls.

According to Joshua L. Oppenheimer '96, an organizer of the eat-in, students hope to draw more than 200 students to the protest, which is planned for dinner on Wednesday.

In interviews with The Crimson over the last week, Oppenheimer and other students have charged University officials with orchestrating a deliberate attempt to undermine the work of the union to which the dining hall employees belong. Harvard officials have vigorously denied those claims.

And yesterday, Oppenheimer and Alejandro Reuss '93 said they hoped the protest would expand beyond the issue of Harvard's dining halls to include the University's decision to invite Gen. Colin L. Powell as Harvard's Commencement speaker.

Powell's invitation has ignited a campus-wide firestorm of controversy because of his past support for the military's ban on homosexuals. By honoring Powell, Reuss said, Harvard is condoning the military's discriminatory policy, an issue he said is worsened by the University's allegedly poor and discriminatory treatment of its workers.

"The invitation of Powell manifests that Harvard is willing to sanction, to honor, someone who is an advocate of pernicious discrimination," said Reuss, who is a member of the fledgling student coalition created to oppose the University's labor practices.

"Harvard University also practices discrimination itself, and those are very closely connected facts with the same underlying cause."

The new coalition, which plans to join a protest of Powell at Commencement, includes members of the Harvard-Radcliffe Labor Alliance (HRLA) and the Black Students Association (BSA).

"They're all issues of discrimination sanctioned by the University," said Oppenheimer, a leader of the HRLA. "The University does all in its power to make plese issues look isolated. It's the same divide and conquer strategy they use to undermine worker solidarity."

Oppenheimer began organizing the coalition over the last few weeks, after HDS Director Michael P. Berry's April 2 firing of Darryl Hicks, a cook and labor union shop steward in the College's largest dining hall.

Hicks has charged that he was fired because of his vocal union activism and also because he is Black. Berry and other Harvard officials have denied the allegations.

Oppenheimer said he hopes several hundred people will join the Wednesday eat in at the Harvard Union, and attend a protest meeting and discussion session afterwards.

"The hope is to get a lot of students there with posters and buttons showing mass solidarity," Oppenheimer said.

"I see it primarily as an event which can make...some sort of a statement about the degree of consciousness of this cause and it can also raise awareness among people who want to come and discuss the issue," said Royce.

And Reuss said the coalition will continue its efforts after Wednesday's protest.

"This isn't a one-shot deal," he said. "This is a struggle that will have to be fought in the long haul. This protest meeting we're having is a good start... Things will go on after that. It's by no means the culmination of our activities.

Powell's invitation has ignited a campus-wide firestorm of controversy because of his past support for the military's ban on homosexuals. By honoring Powell, Reuss said, Harvard is condoning the military's discriminatory policy, an issue he said is worsened by the University's allegedly poor and discriminatory treatment of its workers.

"The invitation of Powell manifests that Harvard is willing to sanction, to honor, someone who is an advocate of pernicious discrimination," said Reuss, who is a member of the fledgling student coalition created to oppose the University's labor practices.

"Harvard University also practices discrimination itself, and those are very closely connected facts with the same underlying cause."

The new coalition, which plans to join a protest of Powell at Commencement, includes members of the Harvard-Radcliffe Labor Alliance (HRLA) and the Black Students Association (BSA).

"They're all issues of discrimination sanctioned by the University," said Oppenheimer, a leader of the HRLA. "The University does all in its power to make plese issues look isolated. It's the same divide and conquer strategy they use to undermine worker solidarity."

Oppenheimer began organizing the coalition over the last few weeks, after HDS Director Michael P. Berry's April 2 firing of Darryl Hicks, a cook and labor union shop steward in the College's largest dining hall.

Hicks has charged that he was fired because of his vocal union activism and also because he is Black. Berry and other Harvard officials have denied the allegations.

Oppenheimer said he hopes several hundred people will join the Wednesday eat in at the Harvard Union, and attend a protest meeting and discussion session afterwards.

"The hope is to get a lot of students there with posters and buttons showing mass solidarity," Oppenheimer said.

"I see it primarily as an event which can make...some sort of a statement about the degree of consciousness of this cause and it can also raise awareness among people who want to come and discuss the issue," said Royce.

And Reuss said the coalition will continue its efforts after Wednesday's protest.

"This isn't a one-shot deal," he said. "This is a struggle that will have to be fought in the long haul. This protest meeting we're having is a good start... Things will go on after that. It's by no means the culmination of our activities.