The Yale Police Department has agreed to a new six-year contract with the University after more than a year of negotiations.
Members of the Yale Police Benevolent Association, the YPD union, voted Wednesday evening to ratify a contract through June 2016 that includes annual across-the-board wage increases from two to threepercent, University spokesman Tom Conroy said in a Thursday email to the News. Though contract negotiations kicked off in February 2010, they stalled over issues including payment, disability cap and detective promotion, among others — operational issues that Conroy said had been resolved in the new contract.
“The [University and YPBA] look forward to continuing this positive and cooperative working relationship during the term of the contract,” Conroy said.
YPBA president Rich Simons did not return multiplerequests for comment.
The new contract also includes wage adjustments and stipends based on years of service, grade and special duty assignments, Conroy said, adding it identifies areas for cost-savings in health care and paid time-off.
Ratification of the new contract comes after more than 60 meetings between University and YPBA officials. Simons said in February there had been already more negotiation sessions for this contract than any other has he presided over as union president. Past contracts would require 50 negotiation sessions at most, he said at the time.
After the previous contract officially expired last February, month-to-month extensions were approved until the new contract was ratified Wednesday. The previous contract was the result of over a year and a half of negotiations that began in 2002.
One year into the most recent round of negotiations, Simons said there were still five major issues the YPBA had to resolve with the University. Those issues, which included pension, insurance and paid time-off, combined with several snowstorms early in the year to pushback negotiations.
Then in April 2011, the union made a number of public complaints against the administration. They claimed the University did not allow crimes to be properly investigated — including, potentially, investigations into allegations of sexual misconduct. YPBA members continued to ratchet up pressure on the University during FamilyWeekend and Bulldog Dayslast year, when they handed out fliers to students and families warning that “Yale and its host city, New Haven, can at times be a dangerous place.”
The fliers, featuring quotations about the Elm City’s crime from the News and the New Haven Register, were decried as “alarmist” by Conroy.
Associate Vice President for Administration Janet Lindner, who oversees the University’s police operations, deferred all administrative comment to Conroy.