Three years have gone by, and for most undergraduates, at least, the bitter fights that brought Harvard its largest union ever have faded into history.

But it's that time again. This fall, members of the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) and University administrators will begin renegotiating the 3500-person contract that took 17 years and a court battle to achieve.

Many of the same players will participate, but the tenor and the goals have changed. Organizers and administrators look back, not in anger, they say, but with mutual understanding. And they look forward knowing that the recession means there is financial pressure for concessions on both sides.

* * *

In the fall of 1988, Harvard's clerical workers, assistants and support staff voted to unionize. The Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers became the largest union at Harvard and stepped into a leading role among employees at the University.

Many officials at the University saw the young union as a threat to its financial well-being and to its flexibility in managing its staff. Harvard tried to convince its staff not to unionize, and after the vote, it fought the union's formation in court.

In its fight to stay alive, the union gained strength and wide support from other unions, students and faculty. The slogan "We can't eat prestige" became the battle cry, reminding the administration that the Harvard name did not put money in workers' pockets.

Eventually, the battle ended, the smoke cleared and Harvard backed down. In February of 1989, the University's largest collective bargaining unit--HUCTW--went to the negotiating table with management. After just four months of negotiation, led by Kris Rondeau for the union and Lamont University Professor emeritus John T. Dunlop '?? for Harvard, the two sides reached agreement on a contract. On June 29, 1989, HUCTW ratified its first contract by a vote of 1551 to 98.

That deal, hailed by labor experts as a strong first agreement, significantly improved pension and health benefits for HUCTW, and, as was expected, the University gave Harvard's six other unions those same benefit packages and other fringe perks (see chart).

Now, the time has come for HUCTW to do something it has never done before in its brief history: renegotiate.

The current three-year contract runs out June 30, 1991, and new contract talks are slated to begin this December. This time around, though, the spectacle of a fiery, emotional, union-management conflict is likely to be absent. The kid gloves are on.

"We don't see each other as enemies," says Jennie H. Rathburn, a member of HUCTW's executive board who works at the reference desk at Houghton Library.

Vice President for Finance Robert H. Scott, who was one of the chief negotiators for the University on the first contract, says he is happy that the union is here. "I think people have learned that this works pretty well," Scott says.

HUCTW President Donene M. Williams says that she expects the negotiations to go smoothly and that completing a contract by June should not be a problem. She attributes this reduced friction between management and union, however, to force rather than good grace. "The only reason that negotiations go smoothly is because the University knows that we're well-organized," Williams said.

Felicia A. Kornbluh '88-'89, a pro-union activist during the first HUCTW contract negotiations and now a researcher at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C., agrees that Harvard has had to soften its stance.