In its first major action of the year, the Living Wage Campaign attracted over 150 students and community members on Friday to hear Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55 speak, to march around University Hall, and to dump bags of trash around the John Harvard statue.

Protesters first assembled at the Science Center, where the mayor, rally organizers and union members addressed the crowd.

"Meals need to be served, grass needs to be cut, floors need to be cleaned, and we're proud of the workers here that are doing it," Duehay said. "They should make enough money to bring up their families and have a decent place to live."

After listening to speeches at the Science Center, protesters marched around University Hall chanting and waving banners, and stopped at the statue of John Harvard.

Organizers gave the statue a broom, a dustpan and a T-shirt reading "Janitor for a living wage," and union members tossed bags of trash at his feet.

Friday's rally marked the first time this semester that the Living Wage Campaign has organized a major public event.

The campaign, which is spearheaded by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), staged a series of rallies and events last spring calling for a minimum wage of $10 per hour for all Harvard employees.

"For the last year we've been embarrassing the administration, for the last year we've been rallying student support, for the last year we've been talking to union members--we're here today to tell Harvard that we won't quit," said PSLM member Stephen N. Smith '02.