Even workers who have not found a pay equity problem at Harvard charge that the University pay scale is unfair. "Harvard needs not to pay equally, but to pay more," one worker says.

"I can't live on the salary they give me here," says an employee who works in one of Harvard's libraries. He is searching for other jobs but plans on staying if the union wins the election.

The average salary for support staff workers at the beginning of 1988 was about $18,900, says Petti.

"I know that I could make more working somewhere else, but there are no jobs open. When the union gets voted in I hope we get a good raise," says another worker, who says she has continued looking for a better paying job since she started working on campus two years ago.

However, the average support staff salary at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) approximately matches the average Harvard salary. Clerical and technical employees at MIT, which competes in the same labor market as Harvard, earn between $12,500 and $27,200.

But most pro-union employees say they expect to receive higher salaries if the union wins its election.

Supporters trust the union will push for higher wages in collective bargaining with the administration. The list of national statistics that the union shows employees says "women who belong to unions earn 27.5 percent more than women who are not union members."

Merit Pay

Many support staff criticize the merit pay system, which gives bigger raises to employees commended in evaluations by their supervisors. They question whether budget constraints limited the number of employees eligible for the highest level of pay raise.

But Petti says that supervisor evaluations represent average satisfaction with worker performance, in the pattern of a bell curve. Support staff get the raises they deserve, Petti asserts.

However, many employees do not feel their raises reflect their efforts.

"Your bosses tell you that you are doing a good job, but if Harvard's money isn't backing that, what's the point? I can't live on my supervisor's praise," says one library employee.

"I first supported the union for older employees. I had no personal complaints," says another employee. "But when I got my first pay raise, I was joining the union for me. At the time you should feel best about your job, when you are getting a raise, you just feel disregarded."

Pension Plans

While many employees are concerned with salary inequities, the economic problem which most workers and HUCTW organizers emphasize is the pension plan.