Membership Meeting Covers Successes, Discusses Contract Reopener November 2, 2011

The UNITE HERE at Yale office, located within the First and Summerfield United Methodist Church, at 425 College Street, has served as a hub of union and community action over the years.  That was true again on this past Wednesday, November 2nd. As Local 34 members filed into the church sanctuary to engage in discussions aimed at determining their interests in the upcoming contract negotiations, they were met by young people from New Haven, preparing to march to City Hall demanding more job opportunities for New Haven youth, and highlight how the lack of such opportunities contributes to the violence afflicting New Haven. Local 34 members signed petitions for the march organizers, supporting their demands, and a number of 34 members also went to meet up with the marchers at City Hall after the membership meeting.

The march drew over 200 participants, and was held by an organization called the New Elm City Dream, made up of youth, community organizations, and organized labor in New Haven..  Marchers presented their petitions to U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro, Mayor John DeStefano, and a number of aldermen, including many of the newly elected alders from September’s primaries. The New Haven Board of Aldermen passed a resolution on October 24th, initiated by Alderwoman and Local 34 member Dolores Colon, supporting the American Jobs Act and jobs for youth.

One of the youth leaders, Capria Marks, said, “the youth of New Haven is waking up and saying that enough is enough, and we’re ready to make a change.”

Marching in support of demands is something that Local 34 members have a lot of experience doing. Inside 425 College St. on Wednesday evening, many who have marched in the past, as well as many new faces in the union, came together to begin working towards the upcoming contract negotiations.
The meeting kicked off with a recognition of the success of the political campaigns run this summer by a number of Local 34 leaders. Dolores Colon was joined by Brenda Jones Barnes, Sarah Saiano, Adam Marchand, and Evette Hamilton. All are Local 34 members who ran in the primaries in September. Brenda spoke of how exciting it is to have more working people on the Board now, and acknowledged the hard work done by the many Local 34 members who volunteered on the campaigns.

Pam O’Donnell and Ann DeLauro described the efforts of committee leaders in Local 34, Local 35, and GESO to increasingly combine their efforts to fight back against the increasingly corporate trends displayed by Yale administrators in the Central and Science areas in regards to layoffs, short-staffing, workload increases, job downgrades, and increased top-down decision making.

From the medical school, Catherine Brayton, a Local 34 research assistant from the Psychiatry department, and Kate Irving, a GESO member from History of Science and Medicine, talked of their joint efforts in the Local 34 project to reach out to Yale researchers at all levels, both inside and out of the Local 34 bargaining unit, in order to better understand the growing world of research at Yale, with an emphasis on understanding issues relating to funding and career tracks.

Yolanda Giordano, Recording Secretary of Local 34 and a medical biller in the Pediatrics department, and Mary Thigpen, medical assistant at Yale Health, spoke about a project currently underway as part of the Clinical Operations Committee, which is part of the Best Practices initiative. The project is focused on creating a career path for Medical Assistants at Yale. This group of approximately 80 staff members, is almost exclusively classified in Labor Grade C. The project aims to create a ladder to Labor Grade D, as well as address issues of training and certification.

The largest portion of the meeting was devoted to small group discussions focused on members responses to questions about hopes and concerns about the upcoming contract negotiations, relayed through the yellow cards that organizing committee handed out and collected back from hundreds of members around campus over the last few weeks. Groups of members filled the church sanctuary, intently discussing everything from wages to health care to desires for job advancement opportunities and, yes, parking. Thanks to the committees’ efforts and the members’ responsiveness on the yellow cards, members from all parts of campus were able to share with each other their perspectives. A note-taker in each group recorded the various points, which Local 34 leadership will compile to inform the creation of a membership-wide survey, slated for release in mid-November.

Local 34 Executive Board member, Jess Corbett of the Dermatology department, said, “coming off of our exciting political victory this Summer, the committee building program, and the energy in the membership meeting, I feel very excited about the upcoming contract and what we can accomplish.”

We can all look forward to much more activity at 425 College St. in the year ahead!