VICTORY!!!

Today, the security guards unanimously ratified a contract with AlliedBarton!!!

The main points are:

• Three step grievance procedure: 1) Account Manager, 2) District or Area Manager, 3) Director of Human Resources - with time limits for response
• Unsettled grievance can be taken to arbitrator (neutral judge)
• 4 hours minimum pay if called in to work; 4 hours minimum pay if shift or detail cancelled without notice
• Fair distribution of overtime and extra hours
• Schedule cannot be cut as a form of discipline
• Carryover for vacation up to a maximum of 20 days - or cash out
• 3 out of 12 sick days can be used as personal days with no less than 48 hours notice except in emergencies
• 2 days paid funeral leave for death in immediate family
• Uniform deposit of $200 required; company will cover cost of uniforms that must be dry cleaned
• Company paid $10,000 life insurance policy
• Pay for time in mandatory training classes
• Company to make reasonable provisions for safety and health of officers
• Lay off by seniority
• Job opening posted, current employees get preference by seniority and qualifications. You can find out why you did not get the job.
• 20 elected union stewards to help enforce the contract; right to have steward with you in meeting that could lead to discipline

Employees shall be placed in classifications and compensated in accordance with said classifications upon achieving the criteria of the various classifications set forth below:

Security Officer I: Classification upon new hire
Security Officer II: Classification upon successful completion of AlliedBarton MSO 1,2,3
Security Officer III: Classification upon successful completion of AlliedBarton MSO 1,2,3,4
Security Officer IV: Classification upon successful completion of AlliedBarton MSO 1,2,3,4,5
Lead Officer: MSO Level 5 and placement in said classification by the Employer

MSO Certification requires established length of service criteria as follows:
MSO 3 - 6 months
MSO 4 - 12 months
MSO 5 - 18 months (3 of 4 officers at Harvard have been here more than 18 months)

The wages officers were scheduled to receive:

Now: $12.68
7/1/07: $12.87
7/1/08: $13.13
7/1/09: $13.40

Prepare Yourself for Civil Disobedience

Security guards are still fighting for fair wages and affordable healthcare. AlliedBarton seems to think it is reasonable that some officers are paying as much as $200 per month for family healthcare. AlliedBarton seems to think it is reasonable that officers who agree to take the most difficult, night-shifts do not receive extra pay - unlike every other service worker on campus. We disagree!

The fight is not won, yet. Let's make sure Harvard and AlliedBarton know that we will not accept an unfair contract. Living wage now! Affordable healthcare now!

Everyone who will be sticking around campus: familiarize yourself with this civil disobedience training - it will come in handy soon!

-Stand for Security Coalition

Donate to the Strike Fund!

With incredibly high turnout, security officers have unanimously voted to endorse a strike.

They are still in bargaining with AlliedBarton, their direct employer, but have yet to see a wage proposal that adequately reflects that wages they deserve. If security officers are forced to strike to secure a fair and decent contract, we are prepared to stand behind them 100%.

Going on strike is a big risk for security officers and we are disappointed that Harvard and AlliedBarton have allowed the campaign to come to this point. We hope that the involved parties will make progress in negotiations in the upcoming days, and a strike can be avoided. However, we MUST prepare for a strike and we are asking for supporters to donate to the strike fund.

Ways to Support the Strike Fund

• Donate online!
• Securely donate via PBHA
• Please type "SLAM Strike Fund" under Specific Needs to make sure your money goes to the right place.
• Mail/Drop-Off Donations
• Student Labor Action Movement, Phillips Brooks House, Harvard Yard, 02138
• Or just drop off your donation in our mailbox!
• Donation Stations
• Look for notices for Donation Stations in your dining hall! or contact slam@hcs.harvard.edu and we can pick up your donation if you are in the Harvard-area.

ALL MONEY WILL BE REFUNDED IF THERE IS NO STRIKE!

We are also encouraging people to think of creative ways to raise money. You could...

• Donate proceeds from your senior sale
• Have a bake sale in your dining hall
• Donate your senior gift to the strike fund instead
• Send this to your family and friends
  
• Whatever else you can think of!!

If you are able to contribute, whatever amount, please consider doing so. Officers are risking a lot in this strike and will greatly appreciate your support.

Support from the Class of 1957

The undersigned members of the Harvard Class of 1957 had prepared the following letter to be sent to President Bok, President-Elect Faust, the Harvard Corporation and the Crimson, when they learned of the interim settlement of the dispute involving the University, campus security guards and student activists. We are sending this letter to The Crimson now because the announced settlement does not demonstrate to us any change in Harvard management's basic anti-labor policy.


As we prepare to gather for our 50th Reunion, we are saddened to learn that Harvard, once again, has failed the test of accommodation to a demand for social justice.

With the power and wealth Harvard has at its disposal, for the University to dismiss with a fine impartiality the demand of security guards for a living wage, for compensation comparable to Harvard's other service employees, is unconscionable. For the University to claim that it is not a party to the dispute because it involves a Harvard contractor and its employees is, to say the least, disingenuous.

Why do students have to go on a hunger strike to engage the University? Why is it that, on issue after issue, going back for years, Harvard's first response to an appeal for equity is to resist?

We have seen a long-term pattern of failure to protect the civil liberties of students and faculty, cooperation with government witchhunts, discrimination in faculty appointments on political, racial and sexual grounds, and failure to take a strong and moral position against those forces that perpetuate discrimination and injustice. Harvard too often pays lip service to humanistic values but aligns itself in practice with repressive forces.

It is long past time for the University to put its money where its mouth is.

Emile C. Chi
Chester W. Hartman
James N. Perlstein
Michael D. Tanzer

ITS NOT OVER YET!

the hunger strike is over...
the fight continues!


RALLY! RALLY! RALLY!
2pm @ Holyoke Ctr
Thurs, May 17th


thousands have signed onto the campaign.
hundreds have come out to our daily rallies.
we've set the stage for a fair & decent contract,
NOW we must continue the pressure until the papers are signed!

people from all across the city will be coming out to show their support for security officers and their impending strike. i know everyone is busy with finals, but we can't let this campaign go just yet. please come out and bring everyone you know!

Boston Herald covers the end of the strike

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=1000813

Chomsky's message of support

Prof. Noam Chomsky contributed to our campaign and wrote to administrators at Harvard. Here is his message of support for us:

I would like to express my firm support and admiration for your courageous actions in putting yourselves on the line to support the elementary rights of campus workers at Harvard, and wish you the greatest success in this honorable efforts.
- Noam Chomsky

Hunger Strike Ends: VIDEO of Day 9

Thanks once again to Aaron Tanaka:

Statement of Support from Dr. Bernard Steinberg, Director of Harvard Hillel

Dr. Steinberg just sent us a letter of support:

I am writing to support the Stand for Security Campaign and students who ask: Does not this great university have the fiscal, political, and moral resources to guarantee that the people who protect our students earn a decent wage? Legalistic or bureaucratic answers, evasions of responsibility, have not been (nor will be) convincing because the fundamental question is moral. Such moral questions are not abstract.

In the Jewish tradition, justice and compassion, not to be confused with the concept of justice or the concept of compassion, express our ability to recognize and respond to living people with whom we are connected. What is at stake is our response-ability, with heart and body, to enable the dignity of our fellow members of the Harvard community with whom students interact daily on a face-to-face basis.

Isaiah, a Jewish teacher who lived in the 7th century BCE, cried out to the people of Jerusalem: “You oppress all your workers!” and implored: “Share your bread with the hungry; take the poor into your home, and do not ignore your own kin.”

We at Harvard must take care of our own, of our people who care for the lives of our students.

Bernie Steinberg, Director, Harvard Hillel

The Hunger Strike ends; Next phase of campaign begins

We ended our strike primarily because the workers were very concerned about our health and wanted us to end, but before we ended we got some concessions from today morning's talks with Harvard admin. More importantly, the workers told us that our pressure broke a 26 day impasse in negotiations, and that Allied-Barton agreed to more dates of negotiation and also finally came through with a wage proposal.

Here are the concessions from today's talks, summarized.

1. A letter signed by Marilyn Hausammann, reaffirming the university's commitment to those of our demands that were in line with the Katz Committee's recommendations, pertaining to subcontractors, including
a: Wages and benefits: - not using outsourcing to lower wages and weaken unions.
- employment an contacting practices should reflect humane concern for all employees whether directly employed or not
- being a good employer is defined as providing wages benefits and other conditions of employment neccessary to attract, retain and motivate employees, and compensation levels that contribute to ensuring that workers and their families enjoy at least a minimally decent standard of living
b: Due grievance process and fair treatment
- Workers should be treated with dignity and respect by supervisors, fellow workers and other members of the Harvard community.
- No employees at Harvard should be subject to intimidation, retaliation, or abuse by supervisors or others in authority positions relative to them.

2. In the letter is also a provision regarding an audit of Allied Barton's compliance or non compliance with the Wages and Benefits Parity Policy. At our last meeting we won an expedited audit that will be complete by early next week (we were told Monday or Tuesday though this date is not on the letter; instead they state "the week of May 14").

In this letter coming out of this meeting, they promise to
- make the audit results public
- arrange a meeting with reps from SLAM and other members of the community (they agreed to worker and faculty representation at the meeting) as soon as possible after the audit
- more than one meeting to discuss these issues.

We stated at the meeting that we expect to deal with the specific ways in
which Allied-Barton is non-compliant with the Wages and Benefits Parity
Policy, but also with the ways in which Harvard has implemented the WBPP.

------
Onward into the next phase of struggle! This struggle is working, but what
we have done so far means nothing if we fizzle out and don't keep up the
pressure until the point in time when it will be most effective ie: when the
negotiations between Allied-Barton and the union come through. If the guards
end up with a bad contract, what we have so far counts for nothing. Its
value is only as groundwork moving towards a better contract.

Statement from the Administration

We've just posted it online [pdf].

Hunger strike ends

Don't consider this post exhaustive, because I don't think I can do it justice, but the hunger strikers broke their fast today.

At the 1 PM rally today, we heard from a couple of members of the guards' bargaining committee who thanked the hunger strikers for everything they'd done and asked them to keep their health in mind. Then Michael read parts of a public statement issued today after the strikers' meeting with Marilyn Hausammann, the University's vice president for human resources. It affirmed Harvard's commitment to a living wage (in sort of ambiguous terms - I believe the phrasing was that the wage should ensure a "minimally decent" standard of living) and stated that Harvard does not intend to use outsourcing as a means for busting unions or lowering wages. The University will publicize the results of its audit of AlliedBarton's compliance with the parity policy sometime next week, probably Monday, and meet with SLAM representatives and other community members shortly after.

As Kaveri, Michael, and a number of others said today, this is certainly a victory but the fight isn't over - Harvard can issue reassuring blanket statements without making any actual commitment to a living wage for security guards. So we have to keep up the pressure, and the union has to keep up the pressure. The fight is not over, and we still need your help.

But it was definitely good to see them eat again.

The Crimson's coverage is here.

More media

Before I get to this, there is a rally at 1 PM today. State Senator Jarrett Barrios and Professor Tim McCarthy will be there. Also, the hunger strikers will report back from their meeting this morning with Marilyn Hausammann and Alan Stone, Harvard's VPs for human resources and for government, community, and public affairs, respectively. It will be important.

Now, the media:

• Hunger strikers Jamila Martin and Benjamin Landau-Beispiel appear on DemocracyNow!;


• Inside Higher Education discusses the Harvard campaign as part of "A Hunger Strike Epidemic?";


• The Springfield News-Leader, Matt Opitz's hometown paper, talks about his health and his mom's support;


• And BostonNOW carries the story of Chuck Turner being, well, turned away from Mass Hall.

That's your news for this morning. Come out at 1 PM!

Day 8 Rally with Chuck Turner

Read the letter [pdf] that Boston City Councilman Chuck Turner (District 7 - Roxbury) tried to deliver to the administration, signed by 8 Boston City Councilors.


Video footage courtesy of Aaron Tanaka

Pictures are here:




Boston City Councilman Chuck Turner is barred from entering by HUPD


Boston City Councilman Chuck Turner after being turned away from delivering his letter, signed by eight Boston city councilmembers

Harvard Hunger Strike and Demonstrations Continue, Chuck Turner Lends His Support

Contact: Austin Guest (831-917-6400), Lucy MacKinnon (347-517-1885)

Harvard Stand for Security Coalition

slam@hcs.harvard.edu || www.stand4security.org

HUNDREDS RALLY FOR FOURTH STRAIGHT DAY IN SUPPORT OF HARVARD SECURITY GUARDS

BOSTON CITY COUNCILMAN CHUCK TURNER SPEAKS IN SUPPORT OF HUNGER STRIKERS’ DEMANDS

This Thursday at 1pm, over a hundred Harvard students and workers turned out for the fourth day of mass rallies in support of newly unionized Harvard security guards and the 10 Harvard students who are on the eight day of an ongoing hunger strike to protest Harvard’s failure to take responsibility for ensuring that the guards receive fair wages and working conditions in ongoing collective bargaining negotiations with security firm AlliedBarton.

At the rally, students and workers marched around Harvard President Derek Bok’s office as they have every day for the past four days. Citing the Presidents’ failure to agree to meet with hunger strikers and other concerned students, the crowd chanted “What’s your problem Derek Bok, all we want to do is talk?” and “Whose Harvard? Our Harvard!” before forming a single file line and asking one by one to be admitted to the offices of the President. Each person in the line was denied access to the office by a team of five armed police officers who said they were acting on order from the Presidents’ office not to allow anyone to enter.

Last in the line was Boston City Councilman Chuck Turner, who attempted to deliver a letter signed by himself and eight other city councilmen that accused Harvard of “denying its responsibility to campus workers” and “shifting the burden of its labor costs onto the city and onto the taxpayers.” Despite a lengthy discussion with police officers on the steps of Harvard’s Massachusetts Hall, Turner was denied entrance to Bok’s office. He then turned to give an address to the crowd of gathered students in which he commended them for their outspoken support of the security guards and told them “You are Harvard’s moral teachers.”

The rally came amidst news that leaders from the Harvard Stand for Security Coalition had met with Harvard’s Director of Labor Relations Committee and were demanding a meeting with Harvard’s Vice President Alan Stone to discuss the formation of an independent committee of students, faculty, workers, and administrators to objectively assess the Coalition’s claims that Harvard’s security guard wages, at $12.68 an hour, are excessively low because they fall short not only of Cambridge and Boston self-sufficiency standards, but also of wages for other service sector workers at Harvard and security guard wages at other elite Universities around the nation.

Also on Thursday, the Coalition received a public letter of support from Noam Chomsky, Professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a prominent national intellectual and activist.

Day 8 Rally: Boston City Councilman Chuck Turner Turned Away at Mass. Hall

At today's regular 1 PM rally we went out, yelled, sang songs, and marched around Mass Hall.

Then everyone - by my (amateur) count at least a hundred people - lined up and went to the door of Mass Hall, one by one, to try to get an audience with President Bok. The police turned everyone away, one by one.

Bringing up the rear of that line was the honorable Chuck Turner, a Boston city councillor from Roxbury. He tried to hand-deliver a letter to Bok signed by eight members of the Boston City Council, but the police turned him away, too. In fact, they didn't even let him leave the letter.

I used to think they only let people in suits get into Mass Hall. Then I figured that since I own a suit, they must only let important people in suits get into Mass Hall. Now that Chuck Turner, an important person in a suit bearing a letter signed by seven other important people, has also been turned away, I have no idea who gets in anymore, since Derek Bok doesn't seem to be showing up to work either.

Anyway, RecKlez, the Harvard Klezmer Band, is playing outside the Science Center (or possibly under my window in Thayer?) right now, and I'm going to go out and hear them - drop by if you're reading RIGHT NOW.

Also, today is Union Solidarity Day, so come back out to the yard at 3:30 - double the fun!

More in the media

The Boston Channel (ABC 5), which did a pretty lengthy story on the hunger strike yesterday, posted an update today on Javier's decision to stop fasting and Matt's health.

US News and World Report's college newspaper blog links the Crimson story on the hunger strike.

And the Crimson covers the vigil at Bok's (unoccupied) house, as well as Javier and Matt.

Lots more press coverage

Check it out here. Of note:

• TV coverage: Harvard Students Going Hungry For Security Guards - 5/9/2007 - WBZ TV
• Harvard Students Hold Hunger Strike - 5/9/2007 - The Boston Channel (ABC 5)
• Harvard student hospitalized during hunger strike - 5/8/2007 - Boston Globe
• With an endowment of $29.2B, $15 an hour is more than reasonable - 5/9/2007 - Pandagon
• The Labor-Economics Thought of Professor N. Gregory Mankiw - 5/9/2007 - MaxSpeak, You Listen!
• Starving for Social Justice - 5/9/2007 - Josh Patashnik '07 on Campus Progress

Day 7 Photos

On Flickr, as usual:


PBHA shows their solidarity.


The bargaining team pays us a visit.

Statement from Javier

Javier Castro, the Harvard student who was hospitalized late Monday night for dangerously low sodium levels after going five days without eating in protest of the low wages and working conditions of Harvard security guards, issued the following statement after deciding to end his fast Wednesday afternoon on the advice of physicians:

Dear friends,

After meeting with the other hunger strikers and security guards, they have told me that our struggle has received substantial attention. People are recognizing that the Harvard administration has not cooperated with us; they have not upheld the principles of truth which they claim to value. Given my medical condition, the recent victories that we have managed to achieve, and the broad support that we have been able to mobilize, I have decided to end my fast.

Still, the struggle continues. We, the coalition of workers and students, will not stop until security guards at Harvard earn a living wage and the Harvard administration acknowledges its responsibility to ensure that its workers are treated with dignity. The other fasters feel the hunger strike has been effective and they will continue to fast until they sense this issue can transition to the next phase. The struggle continues and the actions will escalate.

In solidarity,
Javier