Councilors Angered by Harvard Wage Stance

The Cambridge City Council passed an order supporting a living wage of a minimum $10 hourly salary for all Harvard employees at its meeting last night and threatened that town-gown relations may become strained unless the University acts soon.

The council criticized the University for its failure to implement the $10 wage--which it has called on the University to adopt several times in the past.

In May of 1999, the council mandated that all city employees and employees of firms contracted by city must be paid at least $10 an hour.

Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio and councillor Jim Braude, who drafted order, met with student members of the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), as well as members of local unions last Thursday to discuss the order. This was the first time the council has worked with PSLM on the issue--and the resolution passed last night twice mentions the Harvard activist organization.

"We have passed resolutions before and there really has been no response," Galluccio said. "[University administrators] can no longer shirk from their responsibility of offering fair and reasonable wages."

Braude said he believed the University's relationship with the community is undermined by the lack of a living wage at Harvard.

"It rings hollow when the University trumpets their commitment to the community while people on their own watch are living in poverty," Braude said.

The University has plans for several development projects, such as the Knafel Center and a new art museum on Memorial Drive, that councillors said may face council approval roadblocks if the University does not act soon on a living wage.

"They will be before us many times in the next year," said councillor Marjorie C. Decker. "They still need a lot from us."

"We have to make clear that this is a two-way street, and that street begins with the ten dollar wage," Braude added.

PSLM member William W. Erickson '00-'01 said he believes the council's support will force the University to act.

"I think they are sweating about it," Erickson said. "They are deeply concerned about the leverage the council has over them, and their anger at them for being an irresponsible employer."

According to PSLM figures, adopting a living wage would cost between five to ten million dollars, which is less than one percent of the annual interest on the University's endowment.

Decker criticized the University for not implementing a living wage, despite its large financial endowment.

"If the city can pass a living wage without such a massive endowment, surely the University can," Decker said.

"The costs would be less than the salary of the fund manager of the Harvard Corporation, who makes $10 million a year," Braude added.

In addition to passing the order, the council also helped to publicize a PSLM living wage rally set to take place Thursday afternoon at University Hall, at which the mayor and several councilors will speak.

Councillors praised PSLM for leading the efforts for a living wage.

"Students are at the centerpiece of this movement," Braude said. "They are driving the proverbial train towards a living wage."

University officials had no comment.