Young, who is generally regarded as one ofHarvard's most relentless negotiators, said shehas not discussed the officers' efforts to makethe details of their negotiations public. But, sheadded, "It seems to me that agreements are usuallyreached at the table and not somewhere else."

Young said she "can't even predict" when thenegotiations might end. It could be tomorrow or ayear from now, she said.

For his part, Kotowski calls Young a "puppet"of a University administration obsessed withcost-cutting. He said that Young has repeatedlytold him "her hands are tied" and that she doesnot control the purse strings.

"We found out that we were negotiating withourselves," Kotowski said.

Since June, Kotowski said, Young has told himthat further delays in signing a new contractmight lead to a loss of back pay through thenullification of any retroactive raises. Patrolofficers did not receive a raise for last yearbecause they were working without a contract, hesaid.

But Young said she does not understand whynegotiations with the police are taking so long,especially since talks with other unions proceededrelatively smoothly.

"We've used the same approach in developingoffers to police as we have done with other groupsand I can't tell you why it's taking longer,"Young said.

Officers went out of their way to stress thatthe impasse will not impact the quality of policeservices.

"The work of the Harvard police officersfrequently goes unnoticed," says the union'sletter