"I think they've taken a necessary position, and it's one they were drawn to kicking and screaming," Kornbluh says.

Indeed, any anti-union feelings within the administration now must be set aside by necessity, as the largest union is here to stay, many administrators say. "It's just like a kind of campaign situation," Scott says of the first few months, when Harvard fought the union's formation. "Everyone's on two sides, but after that, everybody's got to come together and get to work."

Although the union-administration relationship is no longer a new one, the state of the economy promises to make the upcoming negotiations rather sticky. The University is seeking to cut costs, especially at the administrative level. Payroll is often the first victim of budget cuts, and administrators are looking for places where they feel staff can be reduced.

This summer, Vice President for Administration Sally Zeckhauser floated an early retirement offer to approximately 870 eligible employees. The University expects about one quarter to one half of those eligible to take the offer, and some of those positions left vacant will not be filled. The cost-cutting maneuvers have only begun, and while Scott won't say what kind budget cuts the University is likely to want, Harvard will surely be wearing its tightest of belts at the bargaining table.

Meanwhile, the union will be looking for raises and increased benefits, as its members feel the economic pressures too. "It's no secret that people working here need to make an improvement in their economic situation," Williams says.

What may be the union's most pressing desire--and the most difficult one to attain--is job security. Harvard is clearly looking to cut its payroll costs, and the union wants to be fully employed. "We believe that once someone comes here to work for the University, there should always be a place for them," Williams says.

According to Williams and other union leaders, HUCTW is also looking for increases in education and child care funding, each of which were new features in the first contract, in addition to increases in health and dental coverage. HUCTW will also be looking to strengthen the joint teams, or councils, of union and management officials which meet every week to work on improving the workplace environment.

"The local joint councils, I think, are the heart of the agreement between the union and the University," Williams says. There are joint councils made up of several union and management officials for each school or department.

Some policy changes from the councils include giving University Health Services staff access to word processing programs and allowing Widener Library workers go home at times during the summer when the heat and humidity in the building are too high.

The councils, though, are time-consuming and costly for administrators, Scott says. While the program is worthwhile, he says, he sees no reason to give the councils more power, as the union wants.

In addition to the council issue, the union has some concerns about the merit raise system, leaders say. HUCTW wants to either overhaul the merit system or just do away with it entirely. Union leaders assert that merit rewards, which can be as high as 3 percent of salary, are being unevenly distributed throughout the different parts of the University. Workers are receiving awards not based on an objective, standard review, but rather on subjective grounds.

"It's intended to be a reward and recognition system," Williams says. "Not many people are feeling rewarded or recognized."

Scott says he likes the merit system and contends that the real differences in rewards among departments are insignificant fractions of percentage points. In fact, he says, if management can convince the union the merit system is fair, he'd like to see more money for merit rewards.

Union leaders also seek to establish a benefits package that would include domestic partners, a request denied them in the first contract. "We would like to be able to put our gay and lesbian partners on insurance policies," says Rathburn, who is a lesbian. "We're kind of left out in the cold."

Scott would not comment on the domestic partners issue, except to say, "We, just like the union, will be open to discussing everything."