Labor Struggle of Last Year Organized Help Almost 100%

1. Maids get a two cent pay increase, bringing wages up to 40 cents an hour.

2. Authorities assert that H.U.E.R.A. and University are now bargaining "harmoniously".

A growing conviction among Harvard's 2700 service employees that they are a powerful and articulate force when mobilized in labor unions continues this year as the University opened for the first time in history with an almost 100 percent organized working staff.

Last year the labor scene was thrown into turmoil by simultaneous campaigns of two opposing unions, one the A. F. of L. local 30, and the other an "inside" organization formed by the employees themselves and subsequently entitled "The Harvard University Employees Representative Association".

A. F. L. Opens Drive

First invasion of the union organizers last year began in November when the A. F. of L. locals 186 and 112 launched a drive to sign up 416 workers in the dining halls. Demanding a closed shop, union chairman Joseph Stefani was able to secure a $2 pay increase for kitchen employees on salaries of $20 a week or less.

By December the kitchen workers were about 80 per cent organized under the A. F. of L. and insisting on a closed or preferential shop. The University refused to do anything but recognize the local units as sole bargaining agents, which they were required to do by law.

Local 30 Comes In

Watching with envy the success of the kitchen workers union and believing that the rest of Harvard's service employees were an easy market for unionizing, local 30 of the A. F. of L., led by international representative Robert H. Everitt announced a drive to sign up maids, janitors and maintenance men.

During the Christmas vacation Harvard workers antagonistic to the invasion of the Yard by a foreign organization formed their own union and openly combated the A. F. of L. By this time the waitresses unit, A. F. of L. number 112 and cooks number 186 feared that workers in their ranks might go over to the other union and hastily concluded a contract with the University, maintaining an open shop and adjusting certain working conditions.

Two Unions Battle

Debates, charges, threats and insults followed between the H. U. E. R. A. and the A. F. of L. 30, both in a race to organize the maids and maintenance men. Mass rallies were held, posters distributed until March when the situation became untenable. The A. F. of L. charged that their opponents, termed a "company union," had an illegal connection with officers of the University, and laid the matter before the State labor relations board.

Finally an election in May decreed by the State authorities, determined the superiority of the H. U. E. R. A., and the A. F. of L. withdrew reluctantly, insisting that they would return this year to recapture the rest of the employees, whose union dues, incidentally, would amount to several thousand dollars a year.

Maids Get Pay Increase

During the summer the maids were allowed an increase of 2 cents an hour by the University after "certain requests" were made by the H. U. E. R. A., according to Business Manager Durant. This meant that the traditional "goodies," having formerly earned an increase of 6 cents on December 8, 1837 when the College attempted to stall off the A. F. of L. drive, now earn 40 cents an hour, daily, including holidays.

Authorities of the University called the present concession a "satisfactory adjustment" and revealed that they had immediately recognized the "inside" union when the A. F. of L. retreated after its defeat at the polls last spring.

The two College officials who attempted to prevent violence throughout the struggle last year and at the same time maintained the complete impartiality of the University were Aldrich Durant '02, Business Manager, and John W. Lowes '19, Financial vice-President. Last year they went so far as to have posters raised in prominent positions to inform employees of the employer's neutrality.

At the present time it appears that both organizations are well intrenched in their respective fields. The A. F. of L.'s bargaining contract comes up for renewal on January 31, and whether or not the H. U. E. R. A. will stage a fight to capture the kitchen workers at that time is still a matter of conjecture.