Manny Bairos works as a chef in Annenberg Dining Hall and said he intends to support a strike authorization.

“It’s something that we have to do to gain a good contract,” he said. “We need better wages since the cost of living is getting so high and I’m willing to strike to get it.”

But some workers are less enthusiastic about the idea of a strike.

“It makes me scared,” said an Adams House dining worker who asked that her name not be used. “When you say ‘strike,’ you don’t know what’s gonna happen. I hope nothing bad.”

The Havard union dining workers, who number more than 500 people, have only gone on strike once in their 63 year history. The 1983 strike lasted one day.

Although the union can’t strike until the summer, officials say that the recent actions of the Progressive Student Labor Movement help at the bargaining table.

“[Harvard] has us in a weaker position but the sit-in makes us stronger,” Childs said.