Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Saturday’s rally at Prospect and Grove.
As Yale announced the launch of a new $7 billion “For Humanity” fundraising campaign Saturday afternoon, over 150 protesters with New Haven Rising and local unions rallied across the street on the corner of Prospect and Grove to press for the university to send more money to its hometown.
Protesters retouched a “YALE: RESPECT NEW HAVEN” mural message that was painted on Prospect Street in May and called on Yale to do more for the city in terms of local hiring practices, paying their “fair share” for tax-exempt properties, and following through on a new tentative five-year contract agreement between the university and its unions.
“Yale can do better,” said New Haven Rising Director Rev. Scott Marks. Marks emceed the event and led the crowd call-and-response chanting, Yale! Respect New Haven, Yale Pay! Fair Share! and If we don’t get it? Shut it down!
New Haven Rising Director Rev. Scott Marks: “Yale can do better.”
Marks highlighted the tentative contract agreements Local 34 and Local 35 reached with Yale last week. Those agreements are set to be taken up for ratification in October.
A visual representation of Yale’s endowment next to annual voluntary contributions, painted at a rally in May.
“I’m so excited and conflicted. We’re celebrating the fact that Local 34 won their contracts and Yale did a decent job. Don’t hate; we don’t hate Yale. I want Yale to be better than Harvard. We just gotta teach ‘em how to treat people. We gotta teach ‘em what real love is,” said Marks.
According to UNITE HERE spokesperson Ian Dunn, details on wage breakdowns won’t be released until members vote. “Until ratification what we’re trying to be cognizant of is it’s unfair to let the stuff get out there until the members get to choose whether or not they want it.”
Wooster Square Alder and Local 34 Executive Board Member Ellen Cupo said a new local hiring agreement in the new contract is the “strongest” they have ever negotiated. Cupo explained that through the agreement Yale committed to providing 40 slots a year to New Haven Works members from low-income households and neighborhoods. Twenty of those slots will be regular jobs with the benefits of a Local 34 contract. The other 20 will be on-the-job training opportunities for New Haveners to gain the experience in order to get a Local 34 job.
Alder Ellen Cupo calls on Yale to “provide opportunities to work for New Haven residents.”
Cupo said that in total, over the course of the five-year contract, this would provide 200 opportunities for New Haveners to get jobs at Yale in Local 34.
“On top of that, it’s gonna funnel tens of millions of dollars in wages and benefits into our low-income neighborhoods of focus. But, we’re going to have to hold Yale accountable to actually make that a reality,” she said.
To hold Yale to their word, Cupo added, the agreement allows Local 34 members to grieve and arbitrate any violations.
Cupo, who landed a job at Yale through New Haven Works, said, “I know the value of a good union job, and I know how important it is for Yale to provide opportunities to work for New Haven residents.”
Throughout the event, protesters picked up signs asking, “What should Yale be for?” and used markers to fill out responses.
Signs along the grass on Prospect Street
Some held the signs up as speakers took the mic, Others stuck their signs in a row along the grass on Prospect Street.
Camila Guiza-Chavez, who graduated from Yale in 2019 and is a part of the Semilla Collective in New Haven, wrote “redistributing wealth” underneath “What should Yale be for?” on her sign.
Camila Guiza-Chavez.
“It makes me so mad every day to see how many resources are stored in just Yale and not at all redistributed to the city. It’s like a colonizing force and it’s completely unacceptable,” said Guiza-Chavez. She said she would like Yale to channel money to the city for greater job creation and affordable housing.
Josie Steuer Ingall joined local union members and other protesters to help cover the “YALE: RESPECT NEW HAVEN” street mural in a fresh coat of paint.
Josie Steuer Ingall.
Steuer Ingall has been a member of the Yale Endowment Justice Coalition since the fall of her freshman year. She noted the coalition gathered 3,000 signatures over the past two years on an active campaign asking alumni not to donate until Yale divests from exploitive industries and pledges to reinvest that money.
Steuer Ingall helps to repaint the street mural.
She said she would like to see money from Yale go towards climate-resilient infrastructure in Fair Haven and low-lying coastal neighborhoods that stand at risk of climate change-driven devastation: “I think the events of the past couple of months have demonstrated how vulnerable parts of this city are and it is really important to invest in protecting those areas of the city and those residents.”
Nasir Underwood, who is from the Hill and graduated from Amistad High School, spoke at Saturday’s rally. He is currently pursuing a degree from the University of Connecticut in elementary education and dreams of becoming a teacher in New Haven. Underwood has worked with New Haven Public School students as a mentor through LEAP the past few years.
“I know firsthand some of the opportunities and educational experiences that our children miss out on as a result of a lack of funding,” he said. “Our children pay the price for Yale not paying their taxes.”
Nasir Underwood: “Our children pay the price for Yale not paying their taxes.”
Underwood said his “frustration” led him to work with New Haven Rising over the summer to knock on residents’ doors and ask them to leave voicemails for top Yale administrators. In total, they were able to get New Haveners to leave 1,121 voicemails calling on Yale to pay taxes and boost local employment opportunities.
Protesters drew chalk messages on Prospect Street, including a picture of Simpsons character Montgomery Burns.
“If you’re not giving back to the city that you occupy but you’re telling your donors that by donating to you it is a donation to humanity, that doesn’t make sense at all,” said Remidy Shareef, a New Haven Rising leader and executive director of outreach for anti-violence group Ice the Beef.
Shareef said the city would look different if Yale gave up more money to the city for its tax-exempt properties and provided more employment opportunities: “Every day I’m working with families who are grieving, youth who are hopeless, kids who need better schools and better mental health care. We know that violence spikes with unemployment and our communities need better job opportunities right now.”
Local 34 member and former Hill Alder Dolores Colon is employed at Yale’s Beinecke Library. She told the crowd she began working at Yale in 1991, which was “life-changing” for her as a single mother with two young children.
But, Colon said, she was disappointed when Yale began out-of-state hiring to do processing work for the Beinecke. She said that collections were loaded on trucks and shipped to Pennsylvania, where they were processed by workers hired for as little as $13.50 an hour. “It’s just shameful. Meanwhile, I know the need that exists in our city for good union jobs.”
“Instead of shipping jobs out of state, Yale should be honoring their commitments to hire from the neighborhoods of need into good jobs,” she said.