Yale Retirees Still Fighting

The university really doesn't have a leg t stand on here. Given the massive growth in the endowment, leaving the people whose labor built the university into what it is today out in the cold is just criminal. It's good that the Federation is standing strong behind these people who put themselves on the line and palyed a major role in the 2003 contract victory. It's time for the university to step up. We'll be watching

Locals 34 and 35 held a dinner to honor 11 retirees who helped obtain better pensions for employees who retired under the contract signed in 2003. But these honorees are among the approximately 1,000 retirees receiving pension benefits under the previous contract, which labor leaders have said are inadequate. University administrators said the pensions in question have seen increases above the cost of inflation.

The 11 retirees protested outside the Yale Investments Office on the eve of the unions' 2003 strike, and five of them held an overnight sit-in until Chief Investment Officer David Swensen agreed to meet with them. Local 34 President Laura Smith said their actions pushed Yale to offer fair, secure pensions to employees who retire under the new contract, but not for themselves.

Update: Better coverage on this (not surprising) from Melissa Bailey at the New Haven Independent. Weapon of Class Instruction sends its best wishes to Lucille Dickess and her family.

Tuesday, a conference room at St. Anthony's Church filled with the chants and
images of that day in an honorary dinner for the nine retirees, hosted by Locals
34 and 35, Yale's pink- and blue-collar unions.
"Oh, it was a trip!"
recalled Rogan, standing at the podium before a room packed with labor support.
"I was raised a very good girl, to do what you're told," she said. "I was
nervous and scared, because we're afraid of the unknown." She gained strength
that day by looking outside, where a crowd gathered, and where Rev. Jackson led
chants from the steps.
"Knowing you were there just really made a
difference. ... You can't do it alone!" she told the crowd. Today, she remains a
firebrand union supporter. Right now blue-collar workers at Yale-New Haven
Hospital have a union-organizing drive underway.
As she was being wheeled
through the hallways of Yale New-Haven Monday night on her way to diagnostic
radiation, "I started right then and there. 'I hope you're going to sign a
card!'" she told the employees.