Yale and its two unions, Locals 34 and 35 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, have agreed to eight-year contracts with an effective date of January 2002.
The term of the contracts is unprecedented at Yale, and University administration officials said the contracts' length would provide an ample period for both parties to strive for a more effective and cooperative relationship. Yale's long-term financial and administrative planning will also be greatly enhanced by the length of the agreements, administrators said.
"We now have contracts that are longer than any in the University's history," said President Richard C. Levin. "The contracts will remain in effect until January 2010. We sought longer contracts in order to provide sufficient time to build healthier labor-management relations. It is important that we leave the contentiousness of recent months behind and focus on the future."
The contracts provide annual raises and pension increases for all employees.
"From the beginning of formal negotiations in early 2002, we have made clear that we would offer excellent salary, pension and benefit enhancements, while seeking greater management flexibility to improve productivity," Levin said. "I believe that we have achieved these goals."
Under the new agreements, clerical and technical employees in Local 34 will receive annual increases averaging 4.6% over the eight years. Service and maintenance employees in Local 35 will receive average annual increases of 3.6% over the same period.
The raises will not be retroactive, but signing bonuses for employees will be equal to 66% of the value of retroactive raises.
The contracts also provide changes in the pension formula that will increase the average pension by approximately 40%. For example, a long-term employee with a salary of $42,226 will see his or her annual pension increase from $13,343 to $18,635.
Administrators said new flexibility in deployment of staff throughout the School of Medicine will lower the cost of maintenance for the University, and Yale's proposal for an incentive bonus program to reward outstanding performance for clerical and technical staff will go into effect in 2005. In addition, Local 35 and the University have agreed to "best practices" that will raise standards of cleanliness and productivity in the new Anlyan Center for Medical Research and the renovated Sprague Hall.
"One of the goals of these negotiations has been to develop processes to improve productivity in work units across the University. In the spring of 2002, we began discussions concerning best practices in the maintenance of our facilities," Levin said. "We made clear that we would extend Local 35 services into new and renovated buildings only after reaching agreement on new staffing levels, as well as appropriate and measurable standards for service."
Discussions between Yale and the unions regarding new contracts began months before the previous six-year agreements expired in January 2002, and Levin praised the efforts of the University's negotiating team.
"I want to extend a special thanks to those who played lead roles in achieving these important agreements," Levin said. "Their dedication to this critical task will benefit Yale for years to come."
The members of the University's negotiating team were: Brian Tunney, director of labor relations; Janet Lindner, interim associate vice president for administration: John Bollier, interim associate vice president for facilities; Claire Brennan, senior labor relations representative; Jonathan Clune, associate general counsel; Santo Galatioto, senior labor relations representative; James Juhas, manager, labor relations; Charles Paul, director of benefits and human resources information systems; Jed Shivers, interim chief financial officer, Yale School of Medicine; Diane Turner, director of human resources, University Library; Eric Uscinski, associate director of administration, Office of Facilities; and Mary Varga, director of finance and administration, Office of Facilities.
The contract agreements, which were ratified by union employees on Sept. 19, ended a strike by the unions that began Aug. 27. During the walkout, slightly more than half of Yale's 4,100 unionized employees remained on the job.
Additional information on the Yale's new contracts with the unions may be found at: www.yale.edu/opa/labor.
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