Yale nurses are not unionized. Even so, Victoria Atkin-Dahm, a certified nursing assistant at YNHH’s St. Raphael’s campus, decided to show up in solidarity. State Treasurer Erick Russell and Gov. Ned Lamont backed up the unions on Thursday. Diane Lazo loves caring for animals at the Yale Animal Research Center, but on her current wage, she can’t afford to move out of her parents’ home. On Thursday, Lazo marched with over 1,000 people through downtown New Haven to demand that Yale increase wages and stabilize healthcare costs for their hourly employees. “Everything is so expensive here,” Lazo, 41, told the Independent. “It would be hard to afford rent on my own.” The rally took place as Locals 34 and 35, two of New Haven’s most politically influential unions, continue negotiating for new contracts with Yale. Their current respective five-year agreements expire in January 2027. The rally was organized by the labor advocacy group New Haven Rising and by the locals’ parent union, UNITE HERE. In September, the two groups held another large-scale protest in downtown, where organizers argued that rising living costs must be met with a significant boost in wages. This time around, union organizers again called for higher wages, protections against automation, and stable healthcare costs. They also said Yale had still not offered a counterproposal to the unions’ suggested contracts. “In March, we finally gave [Yale] our proposals around wages, improved healthcare, and job security in the face of technology change. Since then, we have been met by silence and a lot of canceled meetings,” said Lisa Stevens, the president of Local 34, which represents Yale’s clerical and technical workers. Local 35 represents Yale’s maintenance and service workers. Together, the two unions represent roughly 5,500 Yale employees. Gov. Ned Lamont, who attended Thursday’s rally and who is seeking the Democratic nomination for a third four-year term in office, said, “Yale, sit down and negotiate with these people. They deserve it.” (Click here to read about temporary street closures approved by the Board of Alders on Monday in support of Thursday’s rally.) In an unsigned statement from Yale’s press team, a university spokesperson wrote, “The university is negotiating new contracts with Local 34 and Local 35 and looks forward to a positive, productive process that results in a fair agreement for all parties.” On Thursday evening, workers and allies flooded the streets of downtown, ringing branded red cowbells from the New Haven Green to 1 Prospect St. The organizers pitched a stage outside the office of Yale President Maurie McInnis, where union members described the weight of inflation on their budgets. Rich Esposito: “I like making sure the students have heat.” The Yale Peabody Museum is facing layoffs, leading some workers to attend the protest. Right now, hourly minimum wages for Local 34 members range from $22.58 to $35.64. For Local 35 members, hourly wages range from $26.67 to $49.77, excluding new hires. A wage increase “would mean everything,” Rich Esposito, a technician who tends to Yale’s plumbing and heating, told the Independent. A higher salary would mean more money for his family, especially at the grocery store. Esposito has worked at the university for over 40 years. “I like making sure the students have heat,” he said. He wants Yale to “take a look around” and recognize the number of people calling for higher pay. Elidia Isidoro, a Yale custodian of nine years and member of Local 35, said her job had once given her the means to afford vacations with her two children. “I remember how hard it was to make ends meet before I got my job at Yale,” she said. “I worry that inflation is pulling me back to struggle again.” Jamie Mathiau, Lazo’s colleague at the Yale Animal Research Center (YARC), said her entire paycheck goes towards student loan payments, gas, and other essentials. “I really like this job,” she said. “We help support the future of medicine” and are the “main caretakers for animals.” Without a raise, however, Mathiau said she and her colleagues might be forced to find somewhere else to work. Thousands gathered outside of the Yale Schwarzman Center. Former Wooster Square Alder and current Local 34 VP Ellen Cupo: “It makes me furious” that Yale owns so much untaxed land. Later on Thursday, organizers took aim at Yale — the second wealthiest university in the country, with an endowment worth $44 billion — for claiming to face financial headwinds. Yale said at the end of 2025 that the federal endowment tax of 8 percent and federal cuts to research would require decreasing their expenses. “Every time we go into contract negotiations, Yale tells us how they’re struggling,” said Stevens. “We’re struggling.” The crowd whooped in approval. Former Wooster Square Alder and Local 34 Vice President Ellen Cupo echoed Stevens’ criticism. “It makes me furious” that so much property – roughly $4.3 billion real estate value – cannot be taxed because Yale owns it, she said. She said the 8 percent tax is only on gains, which, in effect, means 335 days’ worth of the endowment’s returns are pure profit. (The endowment tax is calculated on net investment income, not profit. So, in years when the endowment loses money, Yale could still owe the IRS. Read more here.) “Workers can’t keep up anywhere,” said Gwen Mills, the international president of UNITE HERE who grew up in New Haven. “But you know what? There are some places where the industry is hit hard, where there are less hours, and where there is no money. “But that is not the case here,” she declared. “They have the money.” The crowd rang their cowbells in support. Elidia Isidoro: “Our jobs are still good jobs, but we need to catch up.” Diane Lazo and her colleagues at the Yale Animal Research Center are asking for better pay. A new protest song from New Haven Rising and UNITE HERE. The post As Contract Negotiations Continue, Yale Unions Hit The Streets appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less