Yale U. maintenance workers go on strike

Dining halls across Yale University's campus closed yesterday as Local 35 of the Federation of University Employees, the union representing Yale's blue collar workers, went on strike. They are striking in response to a recent reduction in wages and a contract which reserves the right to subcontract all maintenance projects. Yale has given students stipends to buy food, according to Local 35 spokesperson Deborah Chernoff. Intramural mail is not being delivered and trash pick-up is also suspended, Chernoff added. Supporters of the strike held a rally at noon yesterday to mark Local 35's first day on strike. Picket lines also appeared around campus. "We're hoping withdrawing our services will make someone on the [Yale] corporation wake up," Local 35 President Bob Proto said. Local 34 of the FUE, Yale's secretaries and clerical workers, returned to work on March 6 after striking for four weeks. Members of Local 35 will also return to work in four weeks -- regardless of whether a contract has been worked out, Chernoff said. Negotiations are currently at a standstill with no meetings scheduled in the near future, she said. During the strike, the union will pay strikers $100 picket pay -- the same action taken during the Local 34 strike, chief negotiator Michael Boyle said. The FUE released a report Monday detailing its complaints against Professional Law Enforcement, a security firm that Yale administrators hired to prevent violence during the labor negotiations. PLE has worked for several corporate clients during industrial strikes. According to the statement, Yale will spend $1.6 million this academic year on the security firm. "They have mirrored glasses and combat boots," Chernoff said. "They create an air of menace." Specific complaints against PLE include videotaping and following individual strikers. "We dealt with the coal miners and you guys are puppies compared to them," a PLE guard said to a Local 35 member, according to the statement. Union members said they are concerned that the presence of PLE will create violence instead of prevent it. Supportive faculty, graduate and undergraduate students are circulating a newsletter, Labor Matters, aimed to distribute strike information throughout the Yale community. Classes have also been moved off-campus in support of the strikers, according to Chernoff. Yale's Graduate Students and Employees Organization is supporting the strike. GESO organized an unsuccessful grade strike at the beginning of the semester that won no contractual concessions from the administration. The Yale Daily News contributed to this story.