Yale Administrators Preparing for Strike

Yale University is bracing itself for a massive strike by graduate students and unionized workers that is expected to disrupt many of the school’s operations.

Two unions—representing almost 4,000 clerical, administrative, technical and dining hall workers—plan to picket the school on March 3 because of the difficulties they say they are having in contract negotiations with Yale. Many graduate students who wish to unionize are expected to join in the picketing.

Richard H. Brodhead, dean of Yale College, wrote in a recent e-mail message to Yale undergraduates that the college administration is preparing for the strike.

“In the event that there is an attempt to disrupt classes, I want to assure you that the university will make every effort to keep its core educational activities running as normally as possible,” Brodhead wrote in the e-mail. “Faculty members have been asked to make appropriate arrangements to ensure the continuity of instruction.”

“We cannot promise that this time will be problem-free, but we do promise you our best effort. In this uncertain situation, your cooperation will be most important,” Brodhead continued.

The Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO), which is pushing for recognition as a union, is spearheading the graduates students’ contingent of the strike. Like Harvard graduate students, those at Yale conduct research and teach sections.

Brodhead condemned the method employed by GESO, saying that it might “disrupt teaching and learning, the fundamental mission of the university.”

Rebecca J. Spencer, president of Harvard’s Graduate Student Council, said Yale is not the only place where unionization of graduate students has received consideration.

“It definitely has been an issue here at Harvard. Students are interested in unionizing,” Spencer said. “I think the more representation that students have with the administration, the better.”

But the graduate student organizing movement at Harvard seems to be a long way off from staging a strike—the movement is relatively young compared to Yale’s.

In his e-mail, Brodhead also wrote that Yale would attempt to ease the effects of the potential strike by the unions, locals 34 and 35.

According to the e-mail, libraries and athletic facilities will remain open, while rebate checks will be distributed to compensate students for dining hall closures.

Strikers are expected to picket outside academic buildings, which may place some students in the position of having to cross picket lines.

“Students should understand that they are free to cross a picket line to meet their academic responsibilities,” Brodhead wrote.

“While crossing a picket line may be unpleasant, you should keep in mind that the University’s policy on freedom of expression protects the message of picketers,” he added.

Yale sophomore Kevin K. Abels, a member of the Undergraduate Organizing Committee—an undergraduate group that supports workers—said that the choice to cross picket lines is “a really personal decision.”

He noted that some classes will be moved to off-campus buildings, and that there will be certain time windows during which students would be able to enter buildings without crossing picket lines.

“I think it makes it more difficult for students to be apathetic and ignorant of what’s going on,” Abels said of the planned strike. “These things have shown themselves to work. I think it’s unfortunate that this is really the only way that results are achieved.”

Emma S. MacKinnon ’05, a member of Harvard’s Progressive Student Labor Movement, said the events at Yale parallel those at Harvard.

“I think a lot of the demands coming out of the unions at Yale are similar to the demands coming out at Harvard,” said MacKinnon, who is also a Crimson editor. “There is a growing push to improve labor conditions at universities. Yale could become a real battleground for this.”

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.