"Harvard put a package of proposals on thetable in March of 1997, which really proposed verydrastic changes in what the working conditions andbenefits the guards were receiving," he said atthe time.

Other sources have said the Universitycounterproposals always included cuts in benefits.

Although the NLRB staff in Boston--the regionalbranch which received the complaint--had not yetbegun to investigate the charges yesterdaymorning, a formal inquiry should be completed byJuly.

"[The complaint] has been put in the categorythat we would try to issue a complaint or adismissal letter seven weeks from the time it wasfiled," said Lisa Fierce, an NLRB spokesperson.

Case investigators will take sworn statementsfrom union officials, and then will attempt tocontact the University for their response, Fiercesaid.

At the end of seven weeks, the principalinvestigator will make a decision whether torecommend filing an official complaint.

It is then up to a regional director of theNLRB to decide whether to file formal chargesagainst the University, Fierce said.

"If there's a complaint, many of the casessettle at that point."

University officials said the are familiar withNLRB investigations. Once source said suchcomplaints against the University are "notunusual."

"It probably happens a couple of times peryear," the source said, referring to disputes withsome of Harvard's labor unions.

As the NLRB compiles its evidence, negotiationswill continue. The last negotiating session, heldon March 18, saw both sides present proposals andcounter-proposals, according to union andUniversity representatives.

More meetings are scheduled for later thismonth, and the union has agreed to theUniversity's proposal to have a federal mediatoroversee the bargaining sessions