Yale Grad Student Union Unpopular, Unneeded

To the editors:

The Crimson editorial on the Yale strike unfortunately oversimplifies the Yale labor situation (Editorial, “A Living Wage in New Haven”, March 7). Almost all Yale students agree that the Yale maintenance and service workers, represented by Locals 34 and 35, deserve better pay and benefits. Yale could also do more to help the New Haven community, being one of the richest institutions in the world located in one of the nation’s poorest cities. Yale, realizing this need, has offered a generous contract to those unions.

However, the recent strike was driven by the unionization demands by other unorganized groups—most notably, the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO). The vast majority of Yale undergraduate student and indeed most graduate students do not support GESO. Graduate students are given full tuition scholarships and generous stipends. They are students working towards a degree, not employees.

It is my view that GESO and the labor leaders of Locals 34 and 35 unions have done Yale service and maintenance workers a disservice by linking the good cause of the Locals 34 and 35 with the dubious cause of GESO. I suspect many of the rank and file union members agree, as was evidenced by low turnout by union workers all week on campus (only one or two of the campus buildings were picketed at all, most students attended class unimpeded by any picket lines). GESO does not have the interest of Yale or its students in mind. Therefore I, along with what appeared to be a very strong majority of Yale undergraduates, crossed the few picket lines that did exist last week and attended class. I will continue to do so as long as this strike, which hurts the workers more than it hurts Yale, continues.

Anthony Powell

New Haven, Conn.

March 9, 2003

The writer is an undergraduate at Yale University.