"It's been very much on the forefront of the national debate...[and] it didn't interfere in the council's other work," she said.

The council's vote came after a week full of labor activism.

Last Thursday, Harvard University Police Department officers evicted three PSLM members from Mass Hall after they played loud radio music, knocked on doors and handed out leaflets.

PSLM members said the demonstration was a response to a series of sit-ins across the country that called for universities to withdraw from the FLA and join the WRC.

One of the protests, a four-day sit-in at the University of Wisconsin ended in violence. At about 4 a.m. Sunday morning, municipal and university police officers arrested about 50 student protesters, three days after using pepper spray to gain access to the building. Wisconsin did agree to withdraw from the FLA and "conditionally" join the WRC.

A three-day sit-in at the University of Michigan concluded more peacefully as the administration agreed to join the WRC. Demonstrators occupying a dean's office placed the building for sale on the popular on-line auction site eBay.

Last week, the University of Pennsylvania became the first school to withdraw from the FLA, ending a nine-day student sit-in in the university president's office.

Temple University has also announced it will withdraw from the FLA by March 15 unless the organization enacts significant reforms.