Last year, Albert Carnesale's head was a common sight in Harvard Yard.

Throughout the cold winter months, protesters representing the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) circled outside Mass. Hall hoisting cutouts of the former provost's head on sticks. At the time, workers were protesting the University's proposed cuts in health care benefits for part-time employees.

This spring, HUCTW celebrates its 10th anniversary with cakes and a pageant, but perhaps the union's biggest anniversary gift may be its increasingly positive relationship with the University.

In March, the union and the University inked a contract extension good through 2001, well ahead of the negotiation deadline.

Union and University officials alike credit the increased cooperation to the negotiating skills of Timothy R. Manning, who served as Harvard's director of labor relations until January.

"The extension was a surprise twist...it has led a lot of people to feel that now we're coming into a second flowering of possibilities for innovative, positive union management at Harvard," says William Jaeger, director of HUCTW.

Although representatives of both groups say they are optimistic about the current situation, they are quick to note that the relationship is likely to change.

Manning's departure leaves the tone, if not the substance, of future labor negotiations up for grabs.

Furthermore, union officials say that even though present disputes have been resolved, they have concerns which they wish to address with the University in the future.

"I wouldn't want to give the blithe impression that this is just a sweet or simple time between the union and the University," Jaeger says.

"We're treating this as an urgent, serious time, even though it's peace time in terms of there not being any big negotiating battles."

The New Deal

Although HUCTW representatives say they are planning for the future, they say they are proud of the contract agreement they signed in March.

Much of the recent goodwill between the unionand the University is a consequence of the recentcontract extension deal.

The extension includes salary increases of 4.5percent a year on average, more time off aroundthe December holidays and a month of paid leavefor new fathers and adoptive parents.

The catalyst for this negotiation was Manning'sdeparture.

"The University was interested in negotiatingthe increase in contract years because they wereconcerned about the labor situation with Manningleaving," Jaeger says.

Manning, an experienced labor negotiator, iswidely credited with breaking the deadlock on thehealth care and benefits dispute which stymiedrelations between the union and the Universitybetween 1992 and 1997.

"He was a skilled labor relations expert whoworked well with both the University and theunion," says Polly Price, associate vice presidentfor human resources at Harvard.

Union members say working with Manning made iteasier to resolve their concerns without resortingto arbitration or strikes.

"Having someone with good, solid laborrelations experience and an openness to ourphilosophy of unionism enabled us to make somegreat leaps forward," says Adrienne Landau, amember of Hutch's executive board.

Although most of the content of Harvard's laborpolicy is determined by top administrators, unionleaders say Manning's negotiating skill created apositive atmosphere which future negotiators willhave to work hard to reproduce.

"It'll have an impact when a new laborrelations director is hired, and there are someskills and personality traits which we'reinterested in," Jaeger says. "We're watchingcarefully to see how the search process is goingto go."

This year, the director of labor relations posthas been filled by Joy Curtis, a temporaryreplacement hired from an outside firm. Universityofficials say they expect a permanent appointmentto be made by September.

"I feel fairly confident that we'll havesomeone when classes start in the fall," Pricesays.

In fact, union officials say they are confidentthat they will be able to negotiate with theUniversity regardless of whether a new director isappointed quickly.

"We end up having a network of relationshipswith a broad range of people," Jaeger says. "Laborrelations are too big a structure to restprimarily on one manager's shoulders."

Union officials say much of the differencebetween successful and unsuccessful labornegotiations may come from higher up in UniversityHall.

Carnesale was Harvard's provost during theheight of tension between HUCTW and theUniversity, and some union members say the arrivallast fall of Harvey V. Fineberg '67 eased tensionsbetween the two groups.

"The type of adversarial relationship that weinitially had with University Hall under Carnesaleis over....We have great hope because of previouspositive work with Provost Fineberg," Landau says.

A Natural Evolution?

Harvard is not alone in experiencing an upswingin labor relations.

Unions and corporations have been getting alonebetter throughout the United States, according toAscherman Professor of Economics Richard B.Freeman, who is an expert on labor relations.

"There's been a trend down in strikes, and ifyou talk to managers, by a two-to-one ratiothey'll tell you that unions are more cooperativewith them," he says. "Harvard is probably fairlyrepresentative of established worker-managerrelations right now."

Freeman says labor relations are often mostturbulent in the years immediately followingunionization, and Harvard officials agree therelationship between HUCTW and the University mayhave simply needed time to mature.

"We've gotten the kinks out of therelationship," says Anne Taylor, vice presidentand general counsel for Harvard. "It has evolvedover time."

Taylor says since health benefits and salaryincrease rates--primary subjects of contention inrecent years--are particularly difficult issues toresolve, the strife may have been more areflection of the issues involved than the stateof labor relations.

Jaeger echoed this perception of the five-yearbenefits stand-off as a product of particularlytough issues. "The benefits battle was long andugly, and took different union and Universityleaders away from things they wanted to work on,"he says.

But a source close to the union says thedisagreement over benefits was politicallymotivated.

"A group of administrators decided to dosomething a few years ago, where they were tryingto control costs, but also to score a victory fortough management over the union," the source says.

A Troubled Past

As the 1994-97 battle over benefitsillustrates, things have not always gone wellbetween Harvard and HUCTW.

The University fought bitterly against theunion's formation in 1988, spending over $500,000on an anti-union campaign. Harvard blanketed thecampus with leaflets suggesting that unionizingwould bring in outsiders who would impose theiragendas on Harvard workers.

Once workers voted to form the union by arazor-thin margin, the University appealed thereferendum's legitimacy to the National LaborRelations Board in a move union officials calledsour grapes.

After this rocky start, however, HUCTWrepresentatives say a period of negotiation withUniversity officials left them feeling optimistic.They say the negotiations were successful in partbecause they were intended to begin a dialoguebetween union and University officials, ratherthan to negotiate a contract.

"From the point of view of everyone involved,that was a hugely successful negotiation," Jaegersays. "Lots of great ideas came out of it."

But after spending several years buildinggroundwork, the relationship faltered whencontract negotiations began in 1992.

"Mostly [the negotiations] soured over basicdisagreements about the salary increase program,and how great the increases should be," Jaegersays.

Antagonism increased as the negotiationsdragged on more than 60 months past the expirationdate of the old contract and reached a peak inDecember when thousands turned out to hear theReverend Jesse L. Jackson speak at a union rally.

The dispute was not resolved for long when, in1994, union and University officials began tobattle over health care benefits.

The conflict over how the University shouldreduce health care costs dragged on for about fiveyears and provoked the months of picketing outsideMass. Hall and President Neil L. Rudenstine'sElmwood home.

When a compromise was finally reached lastyear, HUCTW could look back on a nine-year historydominated by tough fights.

With the recent contract extension, HUCTW canend its first decade on a somewhat more positivenote.

But union officials emphasize that the peacebetween Harvard and HUCTW does not imply a stasis.

They say they are eager to continue to improvethe relationship between employees and management,particularly by increasing employee influence inUniversity decisions.

"We want more participation and deeperparticipation," Jaeger says. "We want to beinvolved in more of the decisions that affect usas a working group."

Jaeger says the first step toward this goal isthe resurrection of the University Joint Council(UJC), whose creation was mandated by HUCTW'soriginal collective bargaining agreement.

The council, which has not met for severalyears, includes an equal number of representativesof the union and the University, and considers anagenda which it sets on its own.

One of the first issues the UJC is consideringis diversity among Harvard's employees, accordingto Price. She says the council may develop adiversity awareness training program foremployees.

Though it is intended to give employees agreater say in University affairs, it is notentirely clear what force the UJC'srecommendations will be proposed.

"We're in the process of figuring that out,"Taylor says.

Nevertheless, Jaeger says the UJC gives theunion a chance to interact with a variety ofHarvard administrators and to discuss "excitingideas about staff participation."

According to Jaeger, these issues of employeeinvolvement are just the kind of broad, structuraltopics which HUCTW ought to address as it entersits second decade.

"There's probably not going to be bigdemonstrations in the next two years or highlypublicized negotiating fights, but there are bigquestions we're trying to make progress on," hesays.A Brief History of OvertimeMatthew R. Daniels

1988

MAY: Harvard's employees vote, by anarrow margin, to form a union. Harvard appealsthe vote to the National Labor Relations Board.

1992

JUNE: HUCTW contract expires. Union andUniversity remain deadlocked over issues ofemployee compensation.

DECEMBER: Rev. Jesse L. Jacksonaddresses thousands of union supporters at a rallyin Harvard Yard, endorsing HUCTW's position in theincreasingly strained labor negotiations. Asettlement between HUCTW and the University isreached early in the following year.

1994

JUNE: Harvard and unions deadlock, onceagain, over the issue of health benefits forpart-time employees.

1996

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER: Union supporters holdprotests outside Provost Albert Carnesale's officeand President Neil L. Rudenstine's home. Thecontroversy is resolved the following year.

1997

MARCH: Provost Carnesale announces thathe will step down as Provost to become Chancellorof UCLA.

1998

JANUARY: Timothy Manning announces hewill step down as Director of Labor Relations toaccept a job in the private sector.

MARCH: HUCTW votes to extend its currentcontract, which was not set to expire until 1999.The new agreement is set to expire in 2001.CrimsonMelissa K. CrockerWILLIAM JAEGER, director of HUCTW, expressedsurprise at the extension of contact between theunion and Harvard.