A Phillips Brooks House committee that has been gathering student support for the food service workers' union in its upcoming contract negotiations with Harvard suffered its first defeat Tuesday night when the Adams House Committee narrowly rejected a resolution in favor of the union.

Joseph P. DiNunzio '84, Adams House Committee chairman, speculated yesterday that most of the committee members who opposed the resolution did so simply because they did not want to "take a side" on the issue.

Nine Houses and 12 other undergraduate organizations have already passed resolutions supporting the union, Shelley I Taylor 83, a spokesman for the Committee on Economic Change, reported yesterday. Three Houses have not yet voted on the resolution, Taylor added.

Taylor said her group is organizing a petition drive to ask for a referendum to overturn the House Committee's decision.

Though Adams House has no formal procedure for changing a House Committee decision, DiNunsio predicted that the committee would hold a referendum if the petition received 100 to 150 signatures.

Dominic M. Bozzotto, president of the union, said this week that he has been pleased with the general level of student support "It's a tremendous sign he said, noting in particular a resolution of support that the Undergraduate Council passed.

Edward W. Powers, associate general counsel for employee relations and the University's chief labor negotiator, was not available for comment yesterday.