Buildings and Grounds employees voted overwhelmingly Wednesday night to accept a new one year contract, but University plans to contract out some of its maintenance work have thrown into question the fate of about 90 B&G personnel, whose positions are being formally eliminated.

Despite a formal change in status, those employees will not lose their jobs since Harvard will only hire an outside firm that agrees to use the carpentry and masonry workers whose jobs would be affected, Edward M. Powers, associate general counsel for employee relations, said this week.

But several B&G workers charged this week that those jobs are in jeopardy, since an outside firm could fire the Harvard employees once the contracted work had been completed.

"It's a legalized lay-off by the University through the disguise of contractors," one B&G employee said Wednesday.

The details of the subcontracting agreement that will determine the fate of the displaced employees are expected to be worked out in separate negotiations scheduled over coming weeks. University and union officials said.

The dispute over the subcontracting plan has been complicated in recent weeks by unusual disagreement within union ranks.

While some workers believe they can win a better agreement if the University subcontracts work to more qualified outside firms, others believe their jobs are only secure if they work directly for Harvard.

Officials of the Trade Maintenance Council, the union the 300 B&G workers represent, this week endorsed the subcontracting plan, claiming that firms are run more efficiently than B&G and that Harvard can pass these savings on to all workers through better wages.

Proponents of the plan pointed to the large the efforts of professors to help the workers, saying they should have little effect.

"Aren't they putting the cart before the horse?" he asked of the Faculty members in response to a reporter's question. "Shouldn't they be supporting [the union's] efforts to get other employers to pay as well as Harvard does?"

Both Womack and union officials acknowledged the limits of what professors could do to help out the workers.

"I don't think that what the Faculty says would make much difference to Mr. Powers," Womack said. But he added, "I believe that it does make some difference to the morale and determination of the feed workers."

And Local 26 President Domenic M. Boszotto said that Faculty support was important in giving workers' demands legitimacy. "They didn't back us blindly," he said, pointing out that their endorsement gave "moral stature" to the union's posisitions.

Womack said that he anticipated no more action on the part of Faculty members for the time being, but hinted that they might consider more action in the fall if the negotiations don't turn out well for the workers this summer.

Womack identified other professors who signed the initial letter requesting Faculty support as Dubois Professor of History and Afro-American Studies Nathan I. Huggins, Professor of Geology, Stephen J. Gould, and retired Thomas Professor of English and American Literature Daniel Aaron. Holly A. Idelson helped in the reporting of this story