Former Rep. (Democrat who was the House minority whip) Urges Guards to Organize

http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=515270

Published On Thursday, October 26, 2006 2:24 AM
By Gabriel J. Daly
Contributing Writer


A former House Democratic leader urged Harvard security guards to unionize using tactics that proved successful at the University of Miami, as labor organizers and student activists readied for what could be the next big battle over workers’ rights here.

David Bonior, a Michigan Democrat who was the House minority whip prior to his 2003 retirement, told a crowd of about 40 people in Emerson Hall last night that Harvard security workers are locked in a “struggle for dignity and respect.”

Five years after students occupied Mass. Hall to advocate for a “living wage” for workers, and just months after the Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM) mobilized on behalf of dining hall workers, activists are turning their attention towards the security guards, who are among the only workers on campus without a union.

SLAM is buoyed by two successful recent campaigns—one to secure a wage hike for dining hall workers this past spring, and a second to reinstate William James Hall janitor Saintely Paul, who said he had been fired for fainting on the job.


Former Congressman David Bonior, a Michigan Democrat, backed the unionization of Harvard’s security guards at the Student Labor Action Movement’s "Silencing Voices" forum yesterday in Emerson Hall.


The example of the University of Miami, where janitors and a subcontractor reached an agreement on union representation this past May, provides a potential prototype for a Harvard campaign.

Guards at Harvard are likewise employed by a subcontractor, AlliedBarton Security Services.

FULL story at link above.

she just loves him. I didn't know much about him before meeting her.

I just emailed this to her. She'll be so proud!

I wasn't into US politics at the time he was in office, but he hit the nail on the head when he and other Democrats stood against the Iraq sanctions. He called it "Infanticide masquerading as policy"

:patriot: