[act-ma] THU 3/7, 5:30 PM, FIGHT RACIST LAYOFFS @ HARVARD UNIVERSITY!!

[Geoff Carens]

Dear All,

For six months, employees of Harvard's University Financial Services
suffered a regime of fear. Administrators announced "restructuring," then
threatened union members that they would be fired if they didn't work fast
enough. Every week for the six month "transition," managers met with
anxious staffers to tell them they were not succeeding. Work was divided up
unequally, and sometimes there was little to do, but the bosses kept
insisting that their fishy production tallies would determine who would
stay and who would get canned. Staff believed that management targeted
certain staff to be fired, then cooked up data to support their scheme. You
can read more about the hellish "transition" endured by UFS workers
here<http://www.perspy.com/?p=1072>.
When it was over, three workers of color were terminated, all parents, two
of them longer-service women with histories of disability. All Caucasian
workers are keeping their jobs in the department, where management condoned
racist comments and behavior for years.

One union member returned from a disability leave only to be told she is
being laid off after 25+ years' service. Previously she was written up for
confronting a colleague over racist remarks (the co-worker received no
discipline). Another woman, known to be the fastest worker in the unit, was
terminated for supposedly not working fast enough. She has also protested
racist treatment at Harvard, has two kids, and could lose her home. One day
after the last termination, union members and our allies fought back with a
militant picket <http://www.openmediaboston.org/node/2503> in the freezing
cold. Please help us make our March 7 action bigger and louder! We'll
gather starting at 5:30 pm, at Harvard's Holyoke Center, 1350 Mass. Ave,
very close to the Harvard Sq Red Line T stop, for a rally and march to the
affected workplace. Click
here<http://maps.yahoo.com/#tt=&q=1350+Massachusetts+Ave%2C+Cambridge%2C+MA+02138-3846&conf=1&start=1&lat=42.373051&lon=-71.118187&zoom=16&mvt=m&trf=0>for
a map. A flyer is attached with more information. The Facebook event
is
here <http://www.facebook.com/events/504744772897234/>.

In Solidarity,

Geoff Carens, Union Rep, HUCTW/AFSCME Local 3650
Delegate, Industrial Workers of the World (IWW)
iwwboston.org<http://iwwboston.org/2013/01/21/on-a-freezing-jan-18-iwws-allies-support-huctw-workers-under-attack-harvard-older-women-of-color-w-disabilities-targeted-for-layoff-at-university-financial-services/>
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