Tentative settlement reached in Yale union struggle

The N.Y. Times
September 19, 2003
Yale in Deal With 2 Unions, Ending Strike
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
complete story is at http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/19/education/19YALE.html?hp

Ending a three-week strike, Yale and its two main unions reached a tentative eight-year contract yesterday that will give many workers raises of more than 40 percent over the life of the pact and provide the embattled university with years of labor peace.

Yale officials applauded the deal because the university, having faced nine strikes since 1968, more than any other university, wanted a lengthy contract to have labor tranquillity and to mend relations with its unions.The main issues in the dispute were the unions' demands for far higher pensions and the clerical union's push for wage increases of 6 percent or more per year, which that union said were necessary to catch up with workers at Harvard and the University of Connecticut.

Timed to the beginning of the school year, the walkout became a major headache for Yale's 5,300 undergraduates because it forced most dining halls to close and put students in the awkward position of deciding whether to cross picket lines. Moreover, many strikers stood outside classrooms and used bullhorns to disrupt classes.

Source: New York Times

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