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Yale University strikes
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by Chris Werner
Friday, September 5, 2003
While it may pride itself upon outstanding academics, Yale University may have to fill gaps in the area of labor relations. For the past eight days, picketers and angry university employees bombarded the campus, causing class disturbances and political turmoil.
The New York Times reported that more than 2,000 dining hall, maintenance and clerical workers have been boycotting their current employee status and pushing for higher wages, better pensions and job security.
Strikes like this have become somewhat common occurrences at Yale, for this marks the ninth walkout since 1968 and the second one this year.
“In any labor negotiation, the employees make an offer and the workers make an offer,” Yale spokesman Tom Conroy said. “Everyone has a right to strike and everyone has a right to work.”
Conroy noted that nearly two-thirds of workers have refrained from partaking in the strikes, creating a sharp division on campus.
The lack of support staff has created a chaotic environment, leaving dining halls and classrooms empty, with many professors moving classes off campus to avoid crossing picket lines.
Nonetheless, Conroy feels the strikes are having little, if any, effect on student surroundings and their academics.
“Yale has a stellar reputation as a great school to study or to teach or to perform research. That reputation is not going to be affected by labor relations,” Conroy said. “The students’ education and faculty teaching ties are going on with minimal inconvenience.”
Yale sophomore James Kirchick, however, has noticed that many students are falling victim to the University’s problems. Several of his friends have been forced to leave class early because professors could not teach among banging horns and constant yelling outside, and Kirchick himself had to go off campus to attend a class.
Kirchick expresses frustration with how the Yale is handling the matter, noting that original plans for the strike were to avoid student involvement. He feels that such plans have strayed far from the intended guidelines.
“I personally wish the administration would take a harder line,” Kirchick said, adding that police intervention is one way that could calm matters.
In the midst of all the troubles, newly arriving freshmen have been faced with a confusing and startling situation.
Conroy feels that the strikes will not deter freshmen from the educational experience that Yale has to offer.
“We’re trying to make the new freshmen have the same experience. So far we’ve been successful,” Conroy said.
Yale officials laid down a settlement plan for the picketers, offering clerical workers an annual raise of slightly more than 4 percent over a six-year span; maintenance workers were offered a 3 percent raise. The plan, which Conroy describes as “a superb offer,” also included a 30 percent increase in pensions.
Union officials turned down the deal, saying the raise is insufficient because many retirees would still be in the poverty range.
As the strike enters its ninth day, plans for other settlement proposals are uncertain.
