Yale and the union reached a tentative agreement September 18. The eight-year contract includes wage raises of 3-5 percent per year, and an increase in pensions based on a new formula for determining monthly payments.

The last contract expired in January 2002. Workers will receive two-thirds of retroactive wage increases to that date.

More than 5,000 workers and their supporters rallied at the city green after marching through downtown New Haven.

Workers told the Militant that inadequate pensions are at the heart of the dispute. Yale workers with 20 years on the job receive a pension of $620 a month, said Charles Lee, 66, a retired member of Local 35 of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union, one of the two locals on strike. That “won’t pay for a retirement home,” he said.  
 
 
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