Massive crowd rallies in New Haven for union rights for Yale grad student workers Yale grad student employees joined by lawmakers, supporters

Members of GESO-Unite Here delivered a 15-foot photo petition bearing the faces of hundreds of Yale graduate student employees to the university’s president and secretary Thursday. Members of GESO-Unite Here delivered a 15-foot photo petition bearing the faces of hundreds of Yale graduate student employees to the university’s president and secretary Thursday. Photo: Ryan Flynn — New Haven Register Photo: Ryan Flynn — New Haven Register Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Massive crowd rallies in New Haven for union rights for Yale grad student workers 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN >> Woodbridge Hall has a powerful new piece of decor.

The roughly 15-foot by 4-foot board bearing photos of the faces of more than two-thirds of Yale University’s graduate students was hoisted and pushed Thursday through the doors of Woodbridge Hall — which houses the offices of both the university’s president and secretary.

“We just delivered a very large and beautiful object that will live there for some time,” said Aaron Greenberg, co-chairman of Yale Graduate Employee & Students Organization, or GESO-Unite Here.

Now there should be no question for Yale that more than two-thirds of graduate student employees want a no intimidation vote, Greenberg said, “because Yale can see their faces.”

Greenberg, who also is the alder in the city’s 8th Ward, was among well more than a thousand Yale graduate student employees, students and supporters who came out Thursday to petition that graduate employees should be allowed by Yale to have their own union.

Beinecke Plaza was packed with Yale students and staff bearing signs stating “No Intimidation, Vote Now.” Among the supporters were Mayor Toni Harp, state Attorney General George Jepsen, state Senate President Martin M. Looney, and U.S. Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal.

“What you are asking for is simply to be able to make a choice about whether you want to bargain together without your employer using its power to intimidate you,” said Murphy, D-Conn. “What you’re asking for is small. It is reasonable. You should expect it to be granted by this institution.”

Yale has been posting fliers around campus to “intimidate and confuse” the graduate faculty and students, Greenberg said.

The primary concerns, GESO stated in a release, are “insecure teaching assignments, inadequate mental health care, lack of access to childcare, and race and gender inequities.”

One by one, graduate students and employees took to the podium to share personal stories of why the ability to negotiate is so important. Nado Rasolondrainy, a father of two from Madagascar who is a third-year Ph.D. student in anthropology, said 60 percent of his stipend goes toward his on-campus rent. The rest, he said, he uses to feed his family.

Rasolondrainy is not allowed to get a job off-campus because of his visa status. He approached the administration to ask what he should do, he said.

“Believe it or not, the answer was just, ‘this is the way it is,’” he said.

Grant Mao came to Yale from Shanghai, China. Mao, who struggles with depression, was expelled last April. He said that Yale did nothing to accommodate him regarding his depression, but told him that his dismissal was effective immediately, that his health insurance would stop and that he had 15 days to leave the country.

“I should not have to fight for Yale to respect me but I will keep fighting until they do,” Mao said. “I’m fighting because I want to get reinstated — but also because I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”

Also supporting GESO were alders and members of Local 35, Local 34, Local 217, New Haven Rising and Students Unite Now.

Yale Press Secretary Thomas Conroy listed the benefits of Yale graduate school in an email Thursday. Each doctoral student, he said, receives an annual stipend ranging from $29,000 to $33,700. The graduate school also pays for comprehensive health care to all students and their families.

“In the 2014-15 academic year, the total spending for graduate students on these benefits totaled $158 million,” Conroy wrote.

Nearly half of Yale’s hires are New Haven residents, Conroy said, including service and maintenance “blue collar” jobs. This past June, he said, Yale committed to hiring 500 New Haven residents in the next 24 months.

Thursday marked the fourth time since April 2014 that GESO has held a rally for this same cause, but thus far they haven’t seen any results.

“We will be back here again, but we frankly hope that we don’t have to,” Murphy said.

Reach Ryan Flynn at 203-680-9962.