For their part, contractors and University officials flatly deny charges of unfairness.

"Our wages and benefits are equal to or better than any of the union wages and benefits," said Chuck Floyd, C.E. Floyd's owner. "They have never even asked me for information about our wages and benefits. They're making claims without ever checking any of the facts."

Floyd promised in a telephone interview to provide documentation to support his claims, but did not, and could not be reached for comment later.

University officials also defended their contractors.

David A. Zewinski '76, associate dean for physical resources and planning in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said the University keeps close tabs on all its contractors, including C.E. Floyd.

"We investigated them prior to even hiring them, and had them put [a promise of fair labor practices] in writing to us this past year, since there was such a rile being raised by the unions," Zewinski said.

Zewinski said that the picketers' only motive was to ensure that all University contracts go to union labor. However, the overwhelming majority of University contracts already go to the unions, he said, including the Freshman Union and Sanders Theatre projects.

"We are good friends of union labor," he said.

Ongoing Negotiations

Mark Erlich, business manager of Carpenters' Local 40, said this week that the union has made progress in talks with the University, but added that the union still has a long way to go.

He said that because the University is so decentralized, "for every two steps forward...there's a step back with" some other project manager in the University.

Erlich said that he wants the University to develop overarching guidelines that would ensure fair labor practices across the University. He is currently engaged in negotiations to that effect with the University's director of labor relations, Timothy R. Manning