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Harvard custodian Paul wins reinstatement, back pay
Thursday, October 5— Apparently, the noise and banners paid off. Yesterday Harvard Labor Relations reinstated the janitor whose firing three months earlier sparked protests at the university. After meeting with Harvard officials on October 4, Saintely Paul and SEIU union reps said that he had won back his job with full backpay and coverage for medical expenses.
Two weeks earlier, on September 22, around a hundred people protested the refusal of Harvard University to rehire Saintely Paul, who had been a custodian at William James Hall on Kirkland Street for more than six years.
Organized by SEIU Local 615 along with the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), marchers circled in the plaza at Holyoke Center, which lies below the adminstration offices of Harvard. They then crossed the street to the Yard and ralled at Memorial Hall, where a few years ago students staged a sit-in and occupation to protest for custodial workers' right to a living wage.
Student organizers led marchers affiliated with IWW, SEIU 615, and SLAP to William James Hall, Saintely Paul's workplace, where he was well known to office workers and researchers on the eleventh floor.
Graduate student Deborah Rosenberg who often talked with Paul from her office, read from a letter sent to Harvard Labor Relations from researchers, staff, faculty, and students who witnessed his diligent work on the job.
Paul was fired when a supervisor said he was sleeping on the job. In fact, Paul had been seeing a doctor for fainting spells two weeks prior to his becoming ill on the job, and has presented evidence to dispute the boss' accusations.
Workers rallied to speeches by witnesses in the building and supporters of the campaign who demand the Harvard Facilities Maintenance hire Paul back.
Organizers asked participants and onlookers to write Harvard administration and to attend a meeting of the Cambridge City Council, which unanimously passed a resolution introduced on Paul's behalf.