C&Ts, graduate teachers share experiences of work changes November 29, 2010

On November 9th, graduate teachers and researchers in History and History of Science and Medicine joined with Marcy Kaufman, graduate registrar in the History Department and a member of Local 34’s Executive Board, to discuss recent changes in the department.  The discussion began with preliminary results of a survey conducted by the departmental GESO Organizing Committee around issues of teaching, research and academic decision-making.

Robin Scheffler, graduate teacher in History of Science and Medicine and GESO Coordinating Committee member, with Marcy Kaufman, graduate registrar in the History Department and member of the Local 34 Executive Board

Participants from all years and fields in the department shared their experience, concerns and questions about the restructuring of teaching and the pressure to complete research work in ever-shrinking time periods. One graduate teacher described losing her job in the department one week into the semester and being assigned instead to teach for a different department on a topic thousands of miles and years outside her specialty. Without the benefit of a grievance procedure, she instead fought with the department’s support and successfully pushed the Graduate School to resolve the issue.  Senior teachers described their difficulty in obtaining teaching positions and lack of job security.

In turn, Marcy described the increasing influence of corporate values and centralization of academic decision-making that she has encountered since she began working at Yale. The GESO History Organizing Committee is continuing to survey graduate teachers and researchers in the Department with plans to bring these issues to the administration and mobilize to uphold the quality of graduate education and teaching.

The History Department meeting was followed by a similar gathering of over 70 graduate teachers and researchers and C&Ts from the Languages and Literatures departments to discuss concerns about restructuring of both academic and clerical work.

Honoring the history of the unions at Yale November 29, 2010

On November 10, over 100 community members, members of Locals 34 and 35, GESO and Yale undergraduates packed into a classroom lined with union photos and posters to mark the 69th anniversary of the first strike at Yale, in 1941.

History Professor Jennifer Klein described the Yale unions’ long tradition of defying national trends in building our movement because of an openness to including new groups of workers and building alliances in the New Haven community.

Greater New Haven Labor History Association Treasurer Bill Berndtson told stories of his early attempts to organize clerical and technical workers at Yale in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Speakers from Local 34, 35 and GESO, including Local 35 Executive Board member Frank Douglass, and GESO Chair Sarah Egan, combined discussions of the transformative effect of our movement in their own lives with memories of recent mobilizations.

The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Labor History Association.  More information on their work to document the history of unions at Yale, local textile factories, and the Winchester plant is available on their website: www.laborhistory.org.

Union members petition Yale HEALTH over parking fees, access November 8, 2010

Local 34 and Local 35 members are working hard to put “Patients First” in the new Yale HEALTH Center on Lock Street, but wait times for appointments and lines at the Pharmacy are still too long.

On Wednesday  November 3, a delegation of Local 34 and Local 35 members delivered a petition signed by over 1200 Yale employees to express their concern about how the parking fees at the new facility threaten access to superior patient care. Last month, after over 100 Yale HEALTH employees signed the same petition, Yale announced that it would increase the free parking from half an hour to one hour.

The petition reads:
We wish to make clear to University officials our extreme displeasure regarding the decision to charge Yale HEALTH patients a parking fee when receiving medical care at our new facility at 55 Lock Street. This is an unfair additional charge to many who already pay high monthly Yale parking fees but most importantly we believe this will bring undue hardship to many of our patients living on a strict budget. Yale HEALTH is a primary car facility utilized only by Yale University staff, students, and faculty, unlike the YPB which is predominantly a specialty facility utilized by anyone needing their special services. At a time when the university wants to encourage staff to join Yale HEALTH, this decision could dissuade many to NOT make that choice.

We are asking you for an immediate re-evaluation of this decision and to remove this barrier to the delivery of the timely and superior patient care we can provide at Yale HEALTH.

Union members at Yale HEALTH have been very excited about the new building as an opportunity to improve access to great health care. Parking fees should not stand in the way of making Yale HEALTH the best care provider it can be.

Connecticut Labor boosts voter turnout November 8, 2010

We are pleased to report that on Election Day, UNITE HERE’s endorsed candidates for state and federal office in Connecticut won, including the election of Richard Blumenthal to the U.S. Senate, and the election of Dan Malloy as the first Democratic governor of Connecticut in 24 years.

Our union played a major part in these victories through our participation in the AFL-CIO’s Labor 2010 program. UNITE HERE Political Director Gwen Mills spent the past six months coordinating the statewide effort.
Political action is important for our union because state and federal law have an enormous impact on the workplace. Health insurance regulation, pension security, workplace safety, and even collective bargaining itself are all issues where we need strong allies in both Hartford and Washington. Throughout our history, in all our contract negotiations, we have benefitted greatly from the public support of elected officials who share our union’s values and believe that our work deserves respect.

Six Local 34 members did member-to-member outreach to register and inform voters about the election, and another four Local 34 members participated twice a week in Labor 2010 walks and phonebanks, visiting union members in New Haven and other nearby towns. They were joined in these efforts by our brothers and sisters from Local 35 and GESO.

Our members were a critical and visible part of the grassroots get-out-the-vote operation that propelled Dan Malloy and Richard Blumenthal to victory, with Dan Malloy receiving over 5,000 more votes in New Haven than our previous Democratic candidate for governor in 2006.

In addition to the statewide races, former Local 34 member Jessica Holmes ran for the open aldermanic seat in Ward 9. Her campaign, endorsed by the Executive Boards of Locals 34 and 35, generated enormous interest and excitement in the ward. She received 622 votes, just shy of a win. The spirited race between Holmes and Matt Smith (who also has family who are members of Local 34) drove voter turnout in Ward 9 to record highs, as both campaigns registered hundreds of new voters.

Local 34 thanks every member who voted, as well as those who devoted time to all of these efforts. Together, we proved our union can make the difference in close elections and elect candidates who stand with working families.