When many pro-union support staff at Harvard are asked what complaints they have with the University, they say they have none. They want a union because it would give them a voice, making them an integral part of decision-making on campus.

"I believe in democracy," says one worker, who started organizing for unionization in the 1970's. "It makes people feel better if they can participate in the decisions that affect their lives. If they feel better, they work better."

Throughout its campaign to organize Harvard's 4000 support staff, the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) has focused on employee self-representation, instead of organizing around specific economic complaints. Union leaders say the particular issues pale in comparison with the broader quest for worker empowerment.

But the union drive has its 17-year-old roots in issues, and the rallying points of the early seventies--child care, pensions, medical benefits, pay equity and salaries--are still drawing support staff to the union today.

In interviews with 120 support staff members, most workers said they are not satisfied with the benefits the University gives them, and even those who do not support the union think HUCTW might be able to solve some of their problems.

"If women's work--clerical work--is unionized it will be better for women," said one employee, who asked not to be identified. "Discrimination against women has an economic base, and to change the economic situation here we need a union."

Yet administrators say this worker dissatisfaction is unfounded. When the University pay scale and benefits are measured against other employers, Harvard does measure up. Workers opposed to the union say that they haven't found any evidence that the union would improve their material benefits.

Pay Equity

HUCTW contends that women in support staff positions at Harvard are not paid as much as men in comparable positions. Jobs traditionally held by men, in maintenance and other areas, are considered comparable to jobs held by women when the work requires a similar amount of knowledge and level of experience.

On a national level, the National Commission on Working Women reports that "in 1983 male clerical workers earned an average of $113 more per week than female clerical workers."

But the local union does not have any figures to prove that Harvard discriminates against women. "We can't prove anything until we see the exact numbers, and Harvard won't give us those," says Rondeau.

Ronald Petti, the University's director of Human Resources, says that support staff at Harvard are not subject to pay inequities. The average male support staff at Harvard earns a slightly higher salary than a woman staff member, Petti admits. But that does not prove discrimination, he says, since the average male worker has been on the job longer than the average woman.

And, among support staff who work a 35-hour week, women earn more than men, Petti says. In that category, women have been working at Harvard longer, on average, than men have.

Administrators say they are working on a report, which will be distributed to support staff later this spring, proving that salaries are equitable.

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