"Non-union firms [typically] offer very little in terms of benefits," says Sharp. "The working conditions are unsafe and, depending on how closely they are supervised they'll go as far as non-payment of wages.

Union members say they can understand Harvard's attempt to save money in a time where are tight. They say, however that Harvard does not act in a vacuum. As major supplier of construction and renovation work and as the nation's most well-known university, Harvard, they say must realize that it sets a precedent for others to follow.

"The perception of a lot of members is that here's Harvard, the richest University in the world, getting 90 percent of going wages and still using non-union labor," says Ehrlich.

Administrators respond that Harvard must also consider the needs of its community to keep down prices and use smaller contractors. "We have a responsibility to the community and to small businesses." Zewinski says, arguing that Harvard should try to at least look for the lowest bid.

In fact, say administrators, using non-union labor often means supporting newer area contractors who are struggling to get on their feet. And a number of the smaller firms are minority-owned, administrators say, though union members contend that affirmative action programs are a benefit of union labor. "There are good non-union firms and employers out there," Demong says.

Thomas E. Vautin, director of facilities maintenance for the University, says Harvard will most likely never hire 100 percent union labor. "Many projects the University does are small jobs, which are often performed better by small firms sometimes minority-owned businesses," he says.

Harvard officials charge that often the call for standards is, in actuality, a call for exclusion of non-union labor, not one for tougher requirements.

After all, say administrators, the first priority of unions is to procure work for their members. "The unions...try to get as many people hired as possible," says Zewinski. "We're a big target we're highly visible, so it's easy to get their point across."

Union members deny the charge. Administrators are being extremely vague themselves, they say, in mentioning often that Harvard could benefit from more coordinated standards without taking any action.

The Cambridge Jobs Policy Commission has endorsed certain minimum standards for construction projects in the area: Aside from the legally required wage rate, workers compensation rates and employee classification, the commission also wants contractors to provide health insurance for their employees and to be affiliated with a state certified apprenticeship training program.

Most union members question the ability of non-union companies to provide these benefits and still command prices significantly lower than the ones offered by the unions. But it firms can follow these guidelines union leaders, then they can live with the results.

"It seems like a reasonably minimum set of standards. It non-union contractors can do these and can still outbid unions, then they're not the devil. I would prefer to see everything union, but I would like to see standards," says Ehrlich.

Many administrators admit, as Acting Director of the Office of Physical Resource in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael N. Pichterr does, that Harvard could profit form analyzing and judging the standards used for contracting and hiring on campus.

"It probably would be good to have a set of guidelines," says Lichten. "The problem is getting them so they can be applied everywhere."

Zewinski says he has considered taking a more critical view of the companies hired by his department. "I think there is a greater need of review of some firm's business practice," he says.