Logan Dinkins, Contributing Photographer

An estimated 2,000 people marched Thursday afternoon from the New Haven Green to the School of Medicine in a show of support for Yale unions renegotiating contracts with the University.

The rally was organized by UNITE HERE Local 34 and Local 35, unions of Yale’s clerical and technical and its service and maintenance workers. Members of other unions, the union advocacy group New Haven Rising, and Students Unite Now, an undergraduate group allied with UNITE HERE, also attended the event.

The rally began on the northern corner of the Green at 5 p.m., then headed down College Street towards the medical school, where some of the union members are employed.

Many different chants cascaded through the large parade of people, often harmonizing into a unanimous “Who’s got the power? We got the power!” On the side of the road, pick-up trucks filled with Local 35  members were handing out high fives and sharing compliments.

“We are standing here in the heart of the medical school,” Barbara Vereen, chief steward of Local 34, said, gesturing at the building. “We need to send a message to Yale Medicine, to the dean of medicine and to the seat of the chief operating officer of Yale Medicine. We need to send them a message that says, ‘Respect our work.’”

Speakers brought up a host of issues they want to see addressed in contract negotiations — including job security commitments, child care provisions and wage increases to match inflation. The word “respect” was ubiquitous, mentioned in almost every speech.

Yale’s media office confirmed in a statement Friday morning that the University is currently in negotiations with Locals 34 and 35.

“The university began negotiations with Locals 34 and 35 this summer and look forward to a positive and productive process that results in a fair contract,” the statement, attributed to Head of Union Management Relations Joe Sarno and Yale, reads.

In the crowd at the Thursday protest, many people held signs reading “We can’t keep up” and “One job should be enough,” alluding to increases in the cost of living.

“Our members are getting priced out of New Haven because rents have gone up 300, 500, 800 dollars, and our wages have not kept up,” Raven Turquoise-Moon, a senior administrative assistant at the Yale School of Medicine’s development office, said. “I feel I should be able to continue to do the work that I’ve done for 19 years to uphold Yale’s mission, a mission that I believe in, and buy a home here.”

Ensuring wages keep up with inflation is a top priority for the unions, according to Ian Dunn, a spokesperson for Local 34 and Local 35, who said the crowd was 2,000 strong.

“This is a time for us to take control of inflation from the past six years,” Dunn said. 

Dunn said the unions hoped to emphasize the positivity and solidarity of the unions and the negotiations.

The speakers were joined on stage by the Rev. Scott Marks, the head of New Haven Rising, and Alder Brian Wingate, the vice president of Local 35. Alder Jeanette Morrison and Elias Theodore ’27, the Democratic nominee for Ward 1 alder, were also in the crowd.

As more people took the mic, the focus shifted from the specific contract negotiations to broader testimonies to the strength of unions and collective advocacy.

“We’re fighting for a city where students do not have to live in fear for a future,” Brandon Daley, a junior at  Metropolitan Business Academy, said. “We’ve won before. We will win again. We’ve demanded local hiring, and we’ve won revenue increases for New Haven. This is our city.”

Adam Waters GRD ’26 — the president of Local 33, Yale’s graduate student union — spoke in front of the crowd, reflecting on the sustained relationship between graduate students and other Yale workers.

Norah Laughter ’26, the head of activist group Students Unite Now, who lost the Democratic primary for Ward 1 alder earlier this month, guessed that over 100 Yale undergraduate students showed up to the rally.

The director of organizing for the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, John LaChapelle, came from Portland, Conn., for the event, standing with the painters and tradespeople who worked inside Yale.

“Push the union, baby. It’s all about the union, man,” LaChapelle said between puffs of his cigar.
The current contracts for Local 34 and Local 35 will expire in January 2027.

Correction, Sept. 26: A previous version of this article misidentified the organizers of the union rally. The unions themselves, not union advocacy group New Haven Rising, organized the gathering.

Update, Sept. 26: This article has been updated to include a statement from Yale’s media office and Joe Sarno, the University’s union management relations director.