Yard Workers' Strike Resolved

One of Harvard's labor disputes reached a happy ending this week, as picket lines disbanded and the striking members of a local union went to work for a new contractor.

Harvard hired the new contractor, Soep Painting of Malden, Mass., to complete retouching work on Conant Hall after the firm previously employed shut down.

And Soep agreed to employ around half of the workers who had been striking against the old contractor, Everett Decorators, to complete the project.

"Soep Painting was the low bidder [and] agreed to hire about half of the remaining workers to complete the work," said John Laughlin, the spokesperson for Painters and Allied Trades District Council Five, the workers' chosen bargaining agent. "The workers have the opportunity now to work union."

"They wanted the jobs, we wanted to help them get into the union," said Howard Soep, the company's owner. "And we needed people."

About three-and-a-half weeks of work remains on the Conant Hall project, according to Laughlin.

Laughlin said the other former Everett employees, many of whom had been working on projects at Northeastern University, have found jobs with other union contractors. Some are currently working on the big dig, he said.

Work on the Conant Hall project stopped two weeks ago after Everett Decorator's workers went on strike, claiming that five of the company's employees had been fired for leading a unionization effort.

After learning that many unionized employees working on the same project as Everett workers were earning far more money for the same jobs, all 24 of Everett's employees had signed cards indicating their desire to join the union.

One week after the strike began, the firm's owner disbanded his company, citing health concerns.

Laughlin said the resolution provides the workers with what they had been looking for all along--unionized jobs that pay competitive wages and benefits.

"The point for walking out of their jobs was to get the same pay as other folks," Laughlin said. "These guys are now working in a unionized atmosphere."

Harvard did not make employment of the workers a condition for receiving the contract, but did ask that the firm consider it, according to Merry Touborg, a University spokesperson on labor relations.

"The University has actively encouraged the union district council to discuss with Soep the possible employment" of the striking workers, Touberg said.