Friends and Fellow Workers,<br>
<br>
As many of you know, last month Harvard administrators <span>announced a plan for restructuring the
library system, threatening several hundred
staff members with the loss of their jobs. Behind the official explanation of making the
library system "more efficient" is the age-old drive of any
employer to reduce labor costs; to have fewer workers doing more
work for less money; to transform good, stable jobs into insecure,
temporary ones; to outsource work to places where it can be
performed cheaper, without unions or benefits.<br>
<br>
There is no good reason for the threatened layoffs. Harvard's libraries
never recovered from previous waves of cuts in '04 and '09. At $32 billion, the University's endowment is sky-high, and the libraries also receive income from gifts, in addition to what they take in from the endowment. What administrators and the Harvard Corporation see as labor costs to be reduced are
in fact the livelihoods of hundreds of the University's workers
and their families. The last thing local communities need is more layoffs by Harvard, which enjoys special tax status as a so-called non-profit. <br>
</span><br>Please join the Harvard No Layoffs Campaign <span>as we RALLY to oppose the job cuts, at<br>HOLYOKE
CENTER, 1350 MASS AVE, CAMBRIDGE, ON THU, FEBRUARY </span>9th @ 5 PM!<br>The location is steps from the Harvard Red Line T stop. Please forward this message everywhere! A flyer announcing the action is attached. <br>
<br>In Solidarity,<br><br>Geoff Carens, Union Rep, Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers/HUCTW<br>
<br>
Facebook event: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/377015732314356/" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/events/377015732314356/</a><br>
<br>
For more information, see:<br>
<span>Crimson article about workers'
responses: <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/1/25/library-restructure-employees-huctw/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://www.thecrimson.com/</span><span></span><span>article/2012/1/25/</span><span></span><span>library-restructure-employe</span><span></span>es-huctw/</a><br>
<br>
Crimson Op Ed: <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/1/24/Harvard-no-layoffs-library-HUCTW-SLAM-Labor/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://www.thecrimson.com/</span><span></span><span>article/2012/1/24/</span><span></span><span>Harvard-no-layoffs-library-</span><span></span>HUCTW-SLAM-Labor/</a><br>
<br>
Harvard No Layoffs Campaign blog: <br>
<a href="http://harvardnolayoffs.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://</span><span></span><span>harvardnolayoffs.blogspot.c</span><span></span>om/</a><br>
<br>
Harvard Student Labor Action Movement:<br>
<a href="http://www.harvardslam.com/" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://</span><span></span>www.harvardslam.com/</a></span>