NEW HAVEN—Chanting and holding black and white signs reading “We Can’t Keep Up,” and “One Job Should be Enough,” 2,000 members of UNITE HERE Locals 35, 34, and 33, New Haven Rising, and union and community allies marched to the Yale School of Medicine on Cedar Street.
The extraordinary show of solidarity set a tone of fight back in the midst of a vicious attack on labor underway from the White House and MAGA. The September 25 march was timed to the start of contract negotiations between the clerical and technical workers Local 34, service and maintenance workers Local 35, and wealthy Yale University, which boasts a $40 billion endowment.
After meeting up on the New Haven Green in a spirited gathering filled with music, t-shirts, and excitement, the diverse crowd headed into the street to march across town to the Medical School.
They called on Yale University to pay good wages and contribute to New Haven, highlighting how Yale workers and New Haven residents are struggling in the post-pandemic cost-of-living crisis.
Rally attendees called on the university to settle good contracts and contribute more to New Haven, looking ahead to next year when its current voluntary contribution agreement in lieu of taxes expires.
“We fought for a long time to make our jobs good jobs,” said Lisa Stevens, President of Local 34-UNITE HERE. “But what was enough before is not enough anymore. Since the pandemic, the skyrocketing cost of living has caused our members to lose their housing, fall into debt, and even cut back on heat and food,” she said, noting “Yale has a $40 billion endowment, and its workers are going to food pantries.”
The rally, which packed Cedar Street, put up a great cheer when the graduate teachers in Local 33, who won their first contract last year, made the dramatic announcement that a majority of post-docs have now signed union cards. The addition of these researchers and teachers who have earned their PhD degree and have stayed on at the University with little security or pay, would add 1,400 more union members on campus. 
Want a fair deal
Bob Proto, president of Local 35-UNITE HERE, said, “Our members are committed to settling a fair contract, supporting post-docs as they form their union, and standing with New Haven, urging Yale to pay their fair share.”
Getting a union job at Yale changed my life said Elidia Lezama, a member of Local 35. “Before I got a job at Yale, I worked multiple jobs and couldn’t count on regular hours. I had to figure out how to survive through pay periods where I made as little as $25 per week and in other weeks, I had to work so much that I was hardly able to see my kids.”
“Now,” she said, “since the pandemic, many of my co-workers are back to working multiple jobs and struggling to get by.”
Raven Turquoise-Moon, a longtime member of clerical and technical workers Local 34-UNITE HERE, said “I have an education, a job at the city’s largest employer, and yet buying a home in my neighborhood is out of reach.”
“I’m not alone,” she said. “Our members are getting priced out of New Haven because their rents have gone up by $300, $500, $800 dollars—and our wages haven’t caught up. I should be able to continue to do the work that I have done for 19 years to uphold Yale’s mission that I believe in, and buy a home here.”
Also in the crowd were food service workers from Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), members of Local 217 UNITE HERE who are also in contract negotiations. The Local 217 members were joined by other unions and community supporters in a large picket on their campus, calling on the subcontractor Sodexo to settle the contract they are negotiating.
Hours before joining the big rally on the Green, Local 217 members at SCSU voted 98% in favor of going on strike if they have to.
Nick McDonald, Vice President of Local 217 and a food service worker at SCSU, exclaimed, “We, the Local 217 members who work at SCSU, CCSU, and WCSU, are in the struggle just like our brothers and sisters at Yale. We aren’t going to give up until we get what we need.”
“We don’t want to escalate, but we are sending a clear message to Sodexo and the Connecticut state universities: if we don’t get it, shut it down,” he concluded as the entire rally chanted with him.
Also in the march were the New Haven Federation of Teachers, who are also in contract negotiations, demanding fully funded schools with resources for teachers in every classroom. Many students marched alongside.
The large crowd was inspired by Brandon Daley, a junior at Metropolitan Business Academy, who declared that youth are organizing in New Haven: “We’re fighting for all of us. For classrooms with the resources we deserve. For jobs that let our families thrive, not just survive. For a city where no student has to live in fear. For a future where young people have the opportunities to lead and succeed.”
Tonya Ricks, a member of Local 34- UNITE HERE, summed it all up when she said, “I stand before you to let you know: my salary is not keeping up! The price of everything is going up, but my check is not making ends meet. We need better pay and we need more union members!”
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