"Harvard promised some time ago that the Project Labor Agreement would be the precursor to a larger discussion of University-wide discretion on the hiring process," says Mark L. Ehrlich, business manager of Local 40. "To date, that hasn't really happened."

"We signed the Project Labor Agreement...because we were eager to get the freshman dorms," says Joe Power, a member of Local 40. "Many of us thought we were signing for all of the work done at Harvard."

Currently, Harvard Real Estate, the central administration departments, affiliated institutions such as museums and each of the ten separate schools of the University all set independent guidelines for hiring labor. Only projects costing $50,000 or above must file paperwork with the University's central planning office.

Most, though do not attempt to set up a comprehensive set of standards required of contractors that goes beyond the law. As long as each school follows the letter of the law and obtains the approval of the budget office and in cases of debt-financed projects or work above a certain price, the approval of the Corporation, they are allowed a great deal of leeway in the manner in which they obtain construction work.

Robert W. Gewecke, director of fiscal and administrative services for the Graduate School of Education, says his school does not look at whether a contracting firm is union or non-union when considering bids.

"We put out to bid everything over $5,000," he says. "The low bidder always gets it, except in some extenuating circumstances--if the low bidder did a poor job last time, for example."

Methods at the Kennedy School of Government are a bit different, according to Steven R. Singer, the school's director of communications and public affairs.

"Our priorities are quality and price. We don't automatically take the lowest bid," Singer says. "Major stuff tends to be union."

The Medical School's system is more complex. A small number of pre-screened contractors are usually used for small jobs, says Ann L. Schwind, associate dean for planning and corporate relations.

Larger jobs are put out to bid, she says. "Price is important but I wouldn't say that price is all-important," she says. "Whenever possible, we try to bid it because the market condition is so good--there's almost no construction work."

Both Harvard and area unions are acutely aware of this last fact. The recession that has made the labor market attractive to Harvard has also tightened construction budgets. Harvard administrators and union leaders are all watching their wallets.

"I think Harvard is seeing an opportunity and is getting some quality work out of it," says Claude J. LeBlanc, general supervisor for construction on the new Hillel building. "I don't think Harvard is being hurt by it."

Administrators contend, however, that even without any set of hard and fast regulations, the construction labor used by the University is very frequently from unions. "Ninety percent of our total dollar volume is spent on union labor," says David A. Zewinski senior vice president for property operations and construction.

Many union members, however, feel the University is taking advantage of the high unemployment in the Massachusetts construction industry to make the unions bow to the will of Harvard.

Some say that Harvard is noticeably hiring more non-union labor to do jobs, such as the rewiring of the Biological Laboratories.