The Law

According to Scott F. Burson, a supervisory attorney of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) of Boston, it is very difficult for unions to prove legally that Harvard has negotiated in "bad faith," the standard for government intervention.

"The same law applies to the University as applies to other employers," Burson says. "They're not held to higher standard, and not held to a lower standard either."

Burson, who handles complaints filed against Harvard, says three charges have recently been levied against Harvard, two by the guard union in April and May of this year, and one by HUCTW in April.

He says Harvard's claims that the market justifies the terms of their agreement with unions hold up well to legal scrutiny.

"Very few proposals, just on their face, would be indicative of bad faith," Burson-says. "Any proposal for which there is a strong economic justification [is] extremely unlikely [to be] in bad faith."

Outsourcing, or hiring sub-contracted workers for less money, is an economically justified tactic, according to Burson.

"An employer can tell a union that they can accomplish the same job with less money; they can use it as a bargaining tool," he says. "They are empowered; they can then go implement [outsourcing]."

Furthermore, Burson says negotiations do not necessarily have to involve a give-and-take process--it is possible for one party to refuse to alter its demands.

"The law explicitly says one party can refuse to make concessions and still be bargaining in good faith," he says.

In addition to the three charges filed against Harvard in recent months, Burson has records of seven other charges, extending back to 1994, which have either been resolved or deferred to arbitration.

Burson says this number is not unusual for any large business.

"This is not atypical of the sorts of cases we see of any large organized employer," he says.

Ask the Experts

Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (SILS) is perhaps the nation's premier center for the study of labor relations. SILS Professor of American Labor History Clete E. Daniel says universities as a whole conduct their relationship with their employees on a hypocritical level.