Of Harvard's estimated 2,036 subcontracted employees, around 23 percent earn less than $10 an hour.

Subcontracted employees are not officially employees of Harvard, but are employed by outside firms that provide services--such as security and construction--to the Harvard community.

The statistics were compiled in fiscal year 1999, which spanned from July 1 to June 30. They were drawn from W-2 tax forms and from surveys of casual employees and subcontractor firms.

Living Wage Campaign members said they valued the statistics but that they believed they did not fully represent workers' situations.

Greg R. Halpern '99, who is working on a book of Harvard employees' oral histories tentatively titled Harvard Works Because We Do told the story of janitorial employees who get only four hours of sleep because they need to work so many jobs.

He said committee members would get more a human angle if they interviewed workers in-person about their Harvard jobs.

"It'd be great if you could do that," he said. "They continue to surprise me with their stories."