Yale and the unions representing the University's 3,700 clerical, technical, service and maintenance employees held a formal bargaining session June 14, the first general bargaining session since May 29.
At the negotiating session, the University proposed annual wage increases in Locals 34 and 35 as part of a six-year contract offer, and continuation of free comprehensive retiree health benefits in a new agreement. The University said the proposed wage increases in the first year of the contract would be retroactive to Jan. 21, if a contract settlement was reached prior to the end of the University's fiscal year June 30.
The cumulative average raise proposed by the University for clerical and technical employees represented by Local 34 of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union was 24 percent, and the service and maintenance workers represented by Local 35 would receive an average wage increase of 12.6 percent over the life of the contract agreement.
In addition to the wage and retiree health coverage proposed June 14, the University has proposed that new contracts include:
-- 10-year individual wage and job guarantees for all current Local 35 employees, plus a 10-year guaranteed union staffing equal to 80 percent of current bargaining unit levels, in exchange for broad subcontracting rights for Yale in a new Local 35 contract;
-- new, supplemental pension benefits through a matching pension plan to which the University would contribute up to 1 percent of employee salary per year to match employee contributions. The new plan would be in addition to the free "defined-benefit" pension plan currently provided that, together with Social Security, provides 70 percent of pre-retirement income, on average, after a full career at Yale;
-- continuation of free, comprehensive health coverage for bargaining unit employees and their dependents through the Yale Health Plan;
-- college tuition benefits for children of employees of up to $8,400 per child, per year, after six years of service, plus an increase in tuition benefits for employees to $2,500 annually; and
-- other free benefits for bargaining unit employees, such as long- term disability insurance.
The unions' negotiators rejected the University's revised contract offer and canceled a bargaining session that had been scheduled for June 17. No additional bargaining sessions were scheduled at press time. The University and the unions began formal bargaining on new contracts last November. University officials said discussions during the six-week period leading up to the June 14 bargaining session, including a series of informal meetings requested by New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, produced a significant narrowing of the differences between the two sides.
The most current information about the status of labor negotiations is available through the World Wide Web at http://www.yale.edu/opa or via gopher on YaleInfo under Public Affairs News & Resources.