Polly Price, Harvard’s associate vice president for human resources said that once negotiations with SEIU are concluded, negotiations with union for guards, service workers and dining hall employees will be re-opened as called for by Summers.

Summers said all the reopened negotiations will hopefully be completed or in progress by this May.

“I think it’s doable,” Price aid of the timetable. “It’s pretty optimistic, it relies on cooperation from both sides but the SEIU negotiatons should be done pretty quickly.”

According to Summers, the recommendations will “break new ground in in defining the relationship between employees and contracted workers doing similar jobs.”

Rocio Saenz, the deputy trustee of SEIU, said she was pleased with Summers’ decision.

“I think this response is a historic statement,” Saenz said. “It shows goodwill toward improving living wages and working conditions for labor at Harvard.”

Saenz said she expects the contract negotiated by SEIU to set a precedent. Following the SEIU negotiations, the University will reopen the contracts of the service workers, dining hall employees and guards.

“We believe this is now the time for Harvard to show their commitment through this [collective bargaining] process,” Saenz said.

BF: The Campaign Responds

The University’s plans meet many of the demands made by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) during last spring’s sit-in, including a promise to improve the quality of life for Harvard workers.

Following the report’s Dec. 19 release, PSLM members had called for Summers to move beyond the recommendations to implement the mandatory wage floor.

But PSLM members said they were pleased with Summers’ announcement yesterday.

“I think that one of the things this shows is that students and workers organizing together can get a mountain to budge,” said PSLM member Benjamin L. McKean ’02, who was also a member of the committee.

McKean did express concern about the implementation process.

According to Summers’ statement, the University plans to compile a report outlining the results of the contract negotiations this spring and will update the committee on its progress.

McKean said he hoped to see a more definite implementation process.

“The report called for a more transparent and accountable process that involved all the stake-holders, so I hope that is something that is forthcoming,” McKean said.

—Staff writer Joseph P. Flood can be reached at flood@fas.harvard.edu.