The local carpenters' union is picketing several Harvard construction sites, charging that the University has hired contractors engaging in unfair labor practices.

The University and the contractors in question dispute the claims, saying that all labor practices are perfectly legal and above-board.

For several weeks, represenatives from Carpenters' Local 40 have been picketing outside William James Hall and Lowell House, where contractors have hired non-union labor for various construction projects.

The demonstrations are quiet and generally last for five hours every day, between 7 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Joe T. Walsh, a picketer outside Lowell House yesterday who said he has been unemployed for three months, said he is demonstrating because he is disgusted that the University is attempting to minimize its operating costs at the expense of the union workers.

"As the richest school in the country, I think Harvard can afford to do the right thing," he said.

"I think they should be looking to make the community happy people," he continued. "I live down the street, in the city of Cambridge, my bills keep coming in and I can't pay them."

Walsh and fellow picketer Jerry J. Lynch were protesting Harvard's use of the contractor Muckle and Associates. Representatives from the firm did not return several phone calls yesterday.

Lowell House is undergoing a reconditioning of the tower, including corrective work to the bellfry. The project is slated for completion by early fall.

North of the Yard, several other union members were picketing in protest of C.E. Floyd, the contractor for a renovation to the ninth floor of William James. C.E. Floyd has been the target of previous Local 40 protests, most recently for its use of non-union labor in the renovation of the Harvard-affiliated Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Bill Seydak, who has been a carpenter for nearly 45 years, said that C.E. Floyd offers its workers no benefits, no insurance and no pension.

He said he was protesting in part to protect C.E. Floyd's own workers.

"We're trying to get everyone in the union so everyone can get the same benefits," he said.

Keith Green, another picketer who said he has been unemployed since November, said Harvard was also to blame for continually hiring C.E. Floyd.

"What's the problem with Harvard?" he asked. "Why don't they want to hire union companies? Do they have something against it? Why?"