"We already do community policing and, if we're in the Harvard community, why aren't we treated like we're in the Harvard community?" McCombe asked yesterday.

Aaron F. Bartley, a Harvard Law School student and organizer of the campaign, said students and the security guards formed an alliance to "bring together people who care about the same things."

"It's atrocious to go four years without a contract," he added. "It's inexplicable...to penny-pinch and squeeze every last worker on this campus."

On Wednesday, President Neil L. Rudenstine announced that Harvard will form a faculty task force to examine University labor policy.

Bartley said the announcement was a "step in the right direction" but that "people's lives don't need committees--they need decent wages and decent benefits."

"We're trying to show support for one another's demands," said Amy C. Offner '01, a member of the campaign.

She said the guards "are members of our community who Harvard doesn't treat as members of our community."

"They've put us off and they've kept putting us off [with negotiations]," said one security guard who wished to remain anonymous.

"We'd like to see a little bit more for ourselves," said the guard, who said he has worked at Harvard for ten years.

While the rally was billed as a fight to keep guards' salaries from dropping below the "living wage" level of $10, Wrinn said after the rallythat this fear was misguided.

"We're certainly not going to cut any wages,"Wrinn said. "The vast majority of guards aremaking more than that [$10] already. I think theyknow that."

Wrinn said he doesn't believe that the cuts inpay have ever been an issue.

"There's never been any intent to cut thesalaries of people who are already there," hesaid.

Instead, the issue has always been theentry-level wages for guards, he said.

Wrinn said the rally will not affect theUniversity's standpoint in the ongoingnegotiations.

"I think we do negotiating face-to-face andacross-the-table, not through the press," Wrinnsaid.