Author Archives: Arielle Levin Becker

There is an old adage about elections — if you don’t vote, you don’t count. Though the scope may be different, the same could be said about filling out end-of-term course evaluations. Over the next few weeks, as e-mails from the registrar’s office will remind you, undergraduates will have the opportunity to weigh in on »

School of Medicine Dean David Kessler will leave July 1 to become dean of the University of California-San Francisco’s school of medicine, UCSF Chancellor J. Michael Bishop announced last week. Yale President Richard Levin will appoint a search committee to replace Kessler, who served as dean for six years after nearly seven years as commissioner »

Nearly 800 union members and supporters locked arms and blocked access to College Street yesterday afternoon as part of a planned act of civil disobedience. Union supporters wearing “Stand up for change at Yale” signs lined the street as the demonstrators defied police warnings and were eventually arrested for creating a public disturbance. The disobedience, »

In an event organizers have likened to the protests of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi, more than 700 union members and supporters plan to block traffic today at the intersection of College and Elm streets as part of a planned act of civil disobedience. Participants will walk into the street around 5:45 p.m. »

Hospital workers and union organizers gathered outside Woodbridge Hall Thursday afternoon as Yale President Richard Levin and union leaders exchanged pointed words over unionization, charges of harassment and labor law. The altercation followed an attempt by the group to meet with Levin in his Woodbridge Hall office. Workers and union leaders crowded into the lobby »

When union leaders passed up the opportunity this week to cancel contracts for next month, many University officials, workers and other observers said they were surprised. With frequent talk of an October strike, many University officials and workers expected union leaders to cancel the contracts, which prohibit job actions. Union leaders said they did not »

A day after extending contracts for another month, union and University negotiators returned to the bargaining table Tuesday to discuss non-economic issues that remain unresolved after seven months of bargaining. Union leaders said they were frustrated by what they considered the University’s refusal to agree to any union plans. Yale President Richard Levin declined to »

Despite talk of an October strike, the contracts for 4,000 workers in locals 34 and 35 were automatically extended through Oct. 31 after the deadline to cancel the contracts this month passed Monday. Because the contracts contain “no strike, no lockout” clauses, job actions are prohibited while the contracts are in effect. Yale officials said »

Yale and union negotiators returned to the bargaining table Thursday, following a monthlong recess and increases in public hostilities on both sides. At the negotiations, union leaders presented their plans for labor-management cooperation and best practices. Union officials also expressed concern about the climate toward unions on campus. The two sides have yet to reach »

With talk of fall strikes by Yale’s unions growing daily, more than 70 students attended a teach-in on labor issues Thursday night, presented by an undergraduate group connected with the .unions. Last night’s teach-in featured a member of the Local 34 bargaining team, a GESO member, a community organizer, and students working with the unions. »

GESO leaders said the organization’s members may strike this fall if the University does not hold discussions with the teaching assistant group. The Graduate Employees and Students Organization, which has been trying to form a teaching assistant union for more than a decade, will also join Yale’s two largest unions in a day of civil »

Four years after major contract disputes left Yale police officers considering a strike and staging job actions, the University and the Yale Police Benevolent Association are again working on new contracts, this time hoping to settle the matter more quickly and quietly. Contracts for the police union expired June 30, but union and University leaders »