Research Survey Program finds rewards, challenges in labs September 15, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Members.comments closed
Since June, Local 34 organizers and committee members have interviewed over 600 researchers in labs and projects across the Medical School. The interviews have included about 300 Local 34 research assistants in the Medical School (75% of the total), and a similar number of non-union researchers who work closely with our members, including M&Ps, postdocs, graduate students and faculty.
Research assistants do widely varying work, from bench work in labs to visiting medical facilities and patients around the state who are participating in, or are interested in joining, Yale-based studies. In the interviews, research assistants expressed a great deal of pride in the work they do to expand the boundaries of scientific knowledge and to help improve peoples’ health and well-being. But the interviews highlighted a number of common difficulties, including the instability of grant-based work, the obstacles and lack of transparency around opportunities to grow and advance, and isolation.
Research assistants Naa Sackey, Maurice Williams and Suzette Benitez participated in the Research Survey Program. They work at the Community Alliance for Research and Engagement (CARE) on projects in the community and schools that address the three primary risk factors for chronic illness: exercise, diet and tobacco use.
Over the coming months, we will be culling interviews and continuing dialogue with research assistants to develop proposals to present to the University as part of the Research Operations Project agreement that is part of our current contract. This agreement allows for joint Union-management projects “to build opportunities for professional development and advancement for research staff, and to address the unique pressures of the research enterprise and its funding environment,” among other things. We will also work to continue the conversation that the interviews opened up with the non-union research workers who work alongside Local 34 members.
Unions Stand Together to Fight for Good Dining Hall Jobs August 28, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Federation.comments closed
On August 24, a delegation of Local 35, Local 34, and GESO members, as well as Yale undergraduates, delivered to Ernie Huff, Associate Vice President of Student & Faculty Administrative Services, a petition signed by over 300 Local 35 members in Dining Services stating:
“As a Local 35 Member I know how important my good job is to me and my family. I know my Dining Hall could use more workers hired into a REAL JOB. We need more help to provide better service to our undergraduates. We especially will need additional help if Yale goes through with closing Commons for dinner. KEEP COMMONS OPEN!”
“We really hope this decision is changed,” said Tyisha Walker. “Closing Commons will affect so many people, both workers and students.”
Many Local 34 members in the Residential Colleges and Dining Services have signed a solidarity petition stating:
“As Local 34 C&Ts, we stand in solidarity with Local 35 Dining Hall staff. We the undersigned believe Commons is a unique place and is central to the Yale undergraduate experience. Therefore, we oppose the planned changed to the dinner service at Commons. We believe closing Commons during dinner with have negative consequences on all dining halls and on student life. This change will create over-crowding in residential dining and limit the undergraduates’ ability to eat in the dining hall of their choice.”
Questions About Health Coverage? August 4, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Contract, Members.comments closed
How you ever had questions about why your coverage was denied for certain medical treatments your received? Do you need help guring out how to make an appeal to your health plan?
Local 34 member Candace Walter found herself in this situation. An employee in the Department of Pathology, Candace faced significant unpaid bills because Aetna denied coverage on physical therapy treatments she needed, and her rst attempts to appeal the denials were unsuccessful. Working together with a union representative, Candace prepared her presentation and organized her documentation, including evidence that Aenta had miscommunicated certain benefit provisions to her. Candace made her cast to a representative in the Benefits Office, and the University made sure that her claims were paid.
“I am so glad to have those claims paid. And now I know more about how my plan works and how to hold them accountable for the coverage they’re obligated to provide me and my family.”
Both Aetna and Yale Health have appeals processes for denied claims and coverage, and employees may discuss these issues with representatives of the Bene�ts Office. If you need assistance with these processes, speak to your Executive Board representative or your organizer, or call the Union office at (203) 624-5161.
It Pays to Have a Contract! August 4, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Contract, Members.comments closed
The Local 34 contract has a lot of things in it. If something happens at work that strikes you as not quite right, it’s a good idea to consult the contract. That’s what Local 34 members Jen Rondina and Michelle Wilson did recently when informed by Yale that the University was going to begin charging them, along with all of the other employees who park in West Haven’s Quigley Lot, a monthly fee. Until that point, Yale employees had parked for years at Quigley free of charge, and took a shuttle to campus.
Pictured above: Michelle Wilson (Neurobiology) and Jen Rondina (YARC) in front of the Quigley Lot shuttle bus.
Jen, a West Haven resident, and Michelle, a former West Haven resident, both park at Quigley, and thought that it was strange that Yale would start charging them to park at what has been a city lot, where parking had been free for them for years. Jen and Michelle consulted with YARC union stewards Bob Monaco and Rod Storer, and discovered a clause in the Local 34 contract that Article XXXII, University Facilities, states in part 3 (c), that “The Quigley Lot in West Haven will continue as a satellite lot available to members at no cost.”
Michelle e-mailed Parking manager Ed Bebyn to inform him of this, copying Local 34 staff. Bebyn replied that he had just recently been alerted of this. He said that the University had already gone ahead and deducted the rst monthly fee, but apologized and promised that it would be refunded as soon as possible!
Locals 34 & 35 Stand Together on Stockroom Short-Staffing July 23, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Contract, Federation.comments closed
Locals 34 and 35 held a joint Employee Participation Meeting for the 344 Winchester Stockroom.
On July 21st, Local 34 and Local 35 members at 344 Winchester stockroom held a joint Employee Participation Meeting to address problems with short-staffing. The closing of the Daggett Street stockroom and layoff of a Local 34 driver last summer has caused serious problems with providing deliveries, particularly in the Medical School. Since that time, the number of Local 35 drivers at work has gone from four to only two on active duty. Rather than hiring additional drivers to address the problem, management started instructing Local 34 materials assistants to do the work of the Local 35 drivers.
Said Chuck Pilotti, who works as a materials assistant in the Medical School, “the short-staffing has caused problems for all of us involved in materials procurement, both in Local 34 and Local 35. Boxes pile up on the loading dock and in the hallways, facilities stewards no longer have a reliable supply of the materials they need to do their jobs, and customers are unhappy about the delays in receiving their orders.”
Local 35 Executive Board member Mike Boyd, who led the meeting, added, “we showed management that they cannot divide Local 34 from Local 35, and that’s getting results.” In the meeting, managers Kerry Murphy and Greg Clark agreed to instruct supervisors to stop directing Local 34 members to do Local 35 work and committed to hiring an additional driver. They also committed to working with union members to address training and policy problems raised in the meeting.
May Membership Meeting Focuses on Summer Plans May 18, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Members.comments closed
On Wednesday May 11, Local 34 held its second membership meeting in 2011 and offered union members an opportunity to discuss the union’s summer organizing programs.
To open the meeting, several Local 34 members spoke about current activities in their departments and areas:
Tom Philips, Senior Materials Assistant in the Yale Art Galleries, reported on the increased number of members who are participating in Local 34’s Stewards Training Program and announced the next full training session on Saturday June 18.
Trish Gordon, Research Assistant in the Genetics Department, described an initiative to talk to research assistants about their career paths and their scientific research.
Steve Fortes, Senior Loan Specialist in Student Financial Services, spoke about his decision to volunteer to knock on doors and encourage voter participation in upcoming local elections.
After the presentations, members from departments across the campus—from Science Park to the Medical School to West Campus—sat in small groups, discussed issues in their own workplaces and gave feedback on the union’s proposed programs.
Hearing Aid Discount Program May 18, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Contract, Members.comments closed
Many of us experience hearing loss when we age, and purchasing hearing aids can be expensive.
Clerical & Technical and Service & Maintenance staff have access to discounts to hearing aids and related services through AHAA, a discount hearing aid service provider that has the nation’s largest hearing health care network, with 2,900 offices located throughout the United States.
This discount program is provided to Yale staff at no cost, and it does not require enrollment.
Interesting in learning more? Visit the AHAA web site at www.ahaanet.com to locate a participating provider, or you can contact the University’s preferred provider, Yale’s Hearing and Balance Center, at 1-203-785-2467.
Union members organize to protect jobs, preserve quality services April 28, 2011
Posted by Local 34 in Best Practices, Yale.comments closed
Despite a larger than expected recovery of the University’s endowment, Yale is engaged in a third consecutive year of budget cuts, and departments in many parts of the campus are feeling tremendous pressure to cut costs, which in some cases has meant layoffs.
Keeping a focus on the university’s mission and maintaining excellence in service are challenges for staff members amidst budget shortfalls, and the cuts can often test the strength of our union contract to protect our work.
Union committee members in the Central Campus area met in March to discuss their experiences of Yale’s ongoing restructuring. Across the campus, union members are organizing to protect our work and our university’s mission.
Fortunately, in some situations, strong organizing by union members in order to have more effective communications with management is helping departments avoid the pain of making layoffs or other measures where there is still more than enough work for staff to handle.
The Environmental Health & Safety Department works all across the campus to reduce injuries, accidents and environmental impact, an increasingly vital task as the university’s medical and science operations continue to grow. Yet despite its important and plentiful work, the department’s director raised the possibility of layoffs to the staff last week, due to pressure from the central administration to cut the budget for the third time in three years. In response, C&Ts organized, raising concerns that layoffs of C&Ts could both endanger the department’s mission and violate the Local 34 contract and asserting that they would do whatever it takes to help the central administration that these cuts could be harmful. With the staff’s input in hand, the director was able to gain approval for a budget with no layoffs of staff.
In the Yale College Dean’s office, the administration had floated the idea of asking staff to coordinate vacation time around the 4th of July, to allow the department to shut down entirely, temporarily. However, based on the department staff’s mixed reactions to the idea, which staff shared with management at an employee participation meeting, the proposal will not be pursued further at this time.
On April 21, the Executive Boards of Locals 34 and 35 met with senior University leadership to discuss the effects of the cuts. The Executive Boards heard a presentation on the state of the budget from Vice President for Finance and Operations Shauna King and Vice President for Human Resources Mike Peel. Board members shared their experience of the cuts on their own work, and the resulting impact on services to students and faculty.
