700 arrested at Yale pro-worker rally
By Matthew L. Schwartz
In a grotesque display of arrogance, police in New Haven,
Conn., arrested 700 Yale workers and students Sept. 25 while
they were attending a large, peaceful protest in support of
workers' demands. "This is the largest contingent to be
arrested in New Haven since the civil-rights marches of the
1960s," one union leader said.
The protesters were demanding that Yale University, one of
the most expensive in the country and alma mater to most of the
directors of the CIA, increase workers' wages in each of the
next six years by 3 to 4 percent. They also called for better
pensions.
The workers--4,000 clerical, food service, health-care and
technical employees and 150 food workers at Yale-New Haven
Hospital--have worked without a contract since January. Yale
has been extending the contract on a monthly basis.
Yale President Richard C. Levin recently got a pay raise of
$50,000, to bring his annual salary up to $600,000. The workers
fighting for a better contract earn far less than Levin's
raise. (Hartford Courant, Oct. 2).
Reprinted from the Oct. 17, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe to WW by Email: wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Donate to
support pro-labor, anti-war news.
Email
this article
Printable
page