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Two Hundred Rally For Living Wage

About 200 students braved chilly winds and near-freezing temperatures yesterday to rally for a living wage in the Yard and at Holyoke Center.

The rally, sponsored by the Living Wage Campaign of the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), included speeches by Fletcher University Professor Cornel R. West '74 and Cambridge Vice Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio, a flag-raising ceremony at University Hall and an a cappella performance by union workers.

Protesters demanded the University pay its workers an hourly wage of at least $10.

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"We need to reaffirm the dignity of all Harvard employees," West said. "When that dignity is not affirmed, there is something wrong with Harvard."

The Living Wage Campaign staged yesterday's rally after a month of labor activism. The rally was the third in three weeks for PSLM.

The event came one day after Champion Products, the University's largest licensed manufacturer, agreed to disclose the locations of all factories producing Harvard apparel. It occurred on the same day that custodial union Local 254 voted on a contract that included substantial wage increases.

"We definitely have momentum," said PSLM member Benjamin L. McKean '02. "Days like [Monday] show that we are having an effect."

Yesterday's rally began at noon at the Science Center, where master of ceremonies Roona Ray '02, a member of PSLM, briefed demonstrators about the Living Wage Campaign and led chants and cheers.

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