"Institutions like Harvard see to it that the working class will always stay in the boat they're in," he says.

Power explains that the union is unhappy that "a lot" of construction work at Harvard is being done by non-union workers.

Eisenberg, the poet-turned-carpenter, says that Harvard sites have lower safety standards than some of her previous construction jobs.

"You can tell this just from looking around," she says. "For example, they are supposed to have railings surrounding open shafts, and they don't."

The hours that Harvard sets for the workers are also the subject of complaints. In most jobs, workers work from seven in the morning to 3:30 p.m. At Harvard, work starts and ends an hour later--forcing the workers to commute during rush hour.

The reason given for the late start is that students are sleeping, Young says. But he doesn't accept such a rationale.

"Students should be up at 7 a.m. College is where you come to learn something. No partying. No hanging weird things out the window," says Young as he gestures towards the banners hanging from Holworthy Hall.

Perhaps as a consolation, the workers say the college setting provides them with occasional interesting sights--from sex in the library stacks to crossdressers.

"Sometimes we see guys walking around looking like girls," Young says.

Carpenter John J. Robbins, who works at Thayer and also worked at Pennypacker, describes what he saw one day 19 years ago when working on Pusey Library.

"I looked up at Widener, and through the window I could see a guy and a girl getting it on," he says.

In the end, the relationship between Harvard and its construction workers can perhaps be seen as one of mutual benefit.

"We are privileged to work here," says carpenter steward Power. "And they are privileged to have us--the cream of the crop of construction workers."