Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers

Labor organizing of clerical and technical workers at Harvard University dates to the early 1970s in the Harvard Medical Area. Frustrated by poor treatment and low wages, a group of women research assistants, graduate students, and female faculty members began meeting to discuss workplace conditions affecting women. Led by Leslie Sullivan, a Harvard Medical School laboratory assistant, graduate student Norma Swenson, and Dean Mary Howell, the Harvard Medical School Women's Group challenged sexism at Harvard. That effort would soon splinter, leading Sullivan to focus her efforts on improving workplace conditions for all clerical and technical staff in the Harvard Medical area. She was supported by organizers including Marlene Goldman, Edie Brickman, Kristin Mahon, Jeanne Lafferty, John Rees, Jeremy Pool, Richard Pendleton, Drago Clifton, and later, Kristine (Kris) Rondeau, a research assistant at the School of Public Health. Rondeau's dedication and skill soon elevated her to a leadership role in the fifteen-year effort to organize the Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW), which represents all of Harvard's support staff, including secretaries, library and laboratory assistants, and accounting clerks, among many others. Leaders of the HUCTW campaign included Maria Manna, Martha Robb, Jeanne Lafferty, and William (Bill) Jaeger, along with many other organizers who volunteered their time. On May 17, 1988, approximately 3,400 Harvard University employees from six campuses -- 82 percent of whom were women -- voted in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) sanctioned election to be represented by the HUCTW, an affiliate of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The election made HUCTW the largest union of clerical and technical workers at any private university in the United States.