From: Maddy Elfenbein (melfenb@fas.harvard.edu)
Date: Fri Feb 22 2002 - 12:40:02 EST
Dear Living Wage and Justice for Janitors Supporters,
Negotiations between Harvard and the Janitors have really come down to
the wire right now. Harvard has spent the past 4 weeks stalling and
waiting for the janitors to back down. The janitors are standing
strong, but now they need us to show our support more than ever. It
has become clear thatnegotiations cannot move forward without action.
So, this MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25TH, all day will be a call-in, fax and
email day to the Office of President Larry Summers, demanding fair
wages and affordable health care for all Harvard employees.
This TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26th, at 4:45PM, the janitors (along with some
students and community supporters) call us to stand behind them as they
will risk arrest in an unprecendented act of civil disobedience in
Harvard Square. It's time to put the pressure back on and to demand
that Harvard take poverty off the negotiating table!
In this email:
I. Action Alert
II. THE FACTS: Detailed Negotiations Update
III. Talking Points & Sample Email to President Summers
Please, lend what you can in the coming week to support the janitors in
their call for justice. It will make all the difference.
In Solidarity,
The Harvard Progressive Student Labor Movement
************************************************************************
JUSTICE FOR JANITORS * HARVARD * ALERT * HARVARD * JUSTICE FOR JANITORS
************************************************************************
JANITORS TEACH HARVARD A LESSON:
at 4:45PM
Tuesday, February 26th
Harvard Square
MARCH AND UNPRECEDENTED
ACT of CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE
Join us in this most crucial rally in order to lend support to
those workers, students and community supporters who will risk
arrest in Harvard Square on Tuesday! Help us show Harvard that
EXPLOITATION DOESN'T PAY!!!
Participants risking arrest must participate in a civil disobedience
training on Saturday, February 23 at 2PM at Harvard. Please contact us
at <pslm@hcs.harvard.edu> for details.
************************************************************************
THE FACTS: Update on Janitors' Negotiations and More...
************************************************************************
* Although Harvard has increased tuition by 43% since 1994, the
University cut janitors' real starting wage by more than $1.50/hour
(13%) since that time, and has cut wages of senior janitors by more
than 30%.
* If wages had merely kept pace with inflation since 1992, entry level
janitors would be making about $12 an hour today; senior janitors
would be making over $14/hr.
* Area universities with a lot less wealth pay over $14 or $15 an hour:
MIT pays its janitors $14.50, Boston University pays $15.49, and
Wellesley pays $14.26. In contrast, janitors at Harvard typically
make only $9.75 an hour, and many do not have any health insurance.
* By dramatically cutting wages, Harvard has saved at least $50 million
over the past ten years on the backs of janitors. This calculation is
based only on inflation adjustment of wages since 1992 and assumes no
real wage increase. To put this number in perspective, to make up for
past wage loss Harvard would need to cut a check for $71,000 to each
of the 700 janitors working on campus.
* The money Harvard saves by paying substandard wages and benefits
amounts to less than one quarter of 1% of annual University expenses.
The university has an endowment of more than $18 billion, a $7
billion
increase since 1998.
* Harvard has received generous grants and tax breaks. Combining both
state and federal tax dollars, Harvard has received $327 million in
government grants in the last reported fiscal year alone.
WHERE NEGOTIATIONS ARE NOW:
* Workers initially demanded a starting wage of $14/hour, ending at
$15.50 in three years. They also demanded a return of seniority pay,
and free family health care. Finally, workers demanded more
opportunities for full-time work, and parity of wages and benefits
for directly hired and outsourced janitors.
* Harvard initially offered a starting wage of $10.85, very weak
seniority pay provisions, and nothing on affordable health care or
full-time work. Furthermore, they wanted to make no commitments to
parity in the collective bargaining contract.
* After a month of negotiations, workers' wage proposals today are
$13.40 in starting wages; in contrast Harvard is refusing to pay any
more than $11 - far below what area universities pay their janitors.
Furthermore, Harvard refuses provisions for affordable health care
and refuses to take any responsibility for wages and benefits of
contract workers.
* At this point, Harvard negotiatiors are only lecturing workers that
they are being unreasonable - not negotiating. According to one of
the negotiators, the only think left for Harvard to do is "bend
over." Workers in turn are frustrated with negotiations which seem a
farce, and are calling on the community to help as they take their
struggle to the streets.
DIDN'T WE ALREADY WIN? WHAT ABOUT THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS?
* The Harvard Committee on Employment and Contracting Policies (HCECP)
recommended that a policy of parity wages and benefits between
subcontracted and directly-hired employees would be sufficient to
bring janitors wages back up to where they need to be (on par with
similar area institutions and Harvard janitors' real wages before the
university began using outsourcing to slash wages in the 1990s).
* Based on the very same data, the Living Wage Campaign proposed a
Living Wage of $12 to $14/hr plus benefits for all employees.
* Considering the way negotiations are going, it is becoming clear that
a commitment on paper to parity alone is not restoring wages to
appropriate levels, as Harvard's OWN committee claimed it would.
Indeed, Harvard is currently refusing to even make a concrete
commitment to parity in the current collective bargaining agreement.
* The upshot is this: Harvard's didn't accept a Living Wage policy, it
adopted a "parity" plan based on the HCECP recommendations. At the
time, the committee claimed that parity would "restore" wages to
where they should be. However, this is NOT happening right now.
For more information on working conditions at Harvard, the Harvard
Living Wage Campaign and Living Wage area estimates, please visit our
website at <www.livingwagenow.com>.
************************************************************************
CALL, FAX, AND/OR EMAIL PRESIDENT SUMMERS' OFFICE MONDAY 2/25
************************************************************************
This Monday, February 25th will be a call, fax, and email day to the
Office of President Larry Summers to demand just compensation for
Harvard Janitors, affordable family health care for all, and a firm
commitment to parity in the collective bargaining contract.
CONTACT INFO FOR PRESIDENT LARRY SUMMERS
----------------------------------------
* phone: 617-495-1502 * fax: 617-495-8550
* email: lawrence_summers@harvard.edu
TALKING POINTS FOR CONTACTING SUMMERS:
1. Identify who you are and your relation to the Harvard Community.
2. Explain that you've heard about the current status of negotiations
between Harvard and the Janitors' Union and that you're
disappointed/infuriated (choose yr adjective) to hear that:
* After 4 weeks of negotiations, Harvard is still offering meager
wage increases and refusing provisions for affordable health care.
* Harvard is still refusing to take any responsibility for wages and
benefits of contract workers.
3. State your support for the janitors in their demands for:
* just wage increases and a return of seniority provisions
* affordable family health care for all Harvard janitors
* a commitment to parity of wages and benefits for contract
employees in the collective bargaining contract.
4. Feel free to further support your phone call, fax or email with
information from this update, www.livingwagenow.com or your own
personal experiences.
5. Close with thanks, and ask for a response.
SAMPLE EMAIL:
Dear President Summers:
I am writing to express my concerns regarding the current status of
contract negotiations between the Janitors Union and Harvard
University. The fact that after 5 weeks of negotiations, Harvard is
still refusing to pay more than $11/hr to Harvard workers, insisting
that the University is doing "the best it can" is absolutely
unacceptable. Such claims are preposterous, considering that the money
Harvard saves by paying substandard wages and benefits amounts to less
than one quarter of 1% of annual University expenses. Area universities
with far smaller endowments pay their janitors over $14 or $15 an hour,
while Harvard janitors typically make only $9.75 an hour, and many do
not have any health insurance.
With the acceptance of some of the Harvard Committee on Employment and
Contracting Policy recommendations, the university supposedly affirmed
a commitment to treat its low wage employees with dignity and respect
and to institute equal pay for equal work. It is time for Harvard to
put its money where its mouth is and take poverty off the negotiating
table.
Workers at the world's richest university should not be forced to
decide between food or shelter, clothing or medicine for their
children. I am therefore writing to support the Harvard janitors in
their demands for fair wages and a return of seniority pay, affordable
family health care, and a substantive commitment to parity of wages and
benefits for contract employees in the collective bargaining contract.
Thank you. I look forward to receiving your response.
Sincerely,
[Justice for Janitors Supporter]
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Sports - Coverage of the 2002 Olympic Games
http://sports.yahoo.com
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Stock for $4.
No Minimums.
FREE Money 2002.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/BgmYkB/VovDAA/ySSFAA/BGfwlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
USAS webpage: http://www.usasnet.org
Unsubscribe from USAS list:
email blank message to usas-unsubscribe@egroups.com
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.4 : Mon Oct 28 2002 - 02:52:32 EST