Students lugged futon mattresses and crates of school supplies, rolled boxes of clothing and personal affects into the corridors of their college houses in the morning hours of Aug. 27, 2003. It was moving-in day at Yale and anxious first-years with their parents crowded the campus, along with some 700 disgruntled union workers and well-known activist Jesse Jackson.
New Haven is a union town, a Yale town, a town of unionized Yale employees--and what the school can do for its workers and their community is often at the forefront of discussion. Unlike in Durham, where unions often play a minor role both on and off Duke's campus, unions have a powerful place in Yale-New Haven relations.
At 5:45 a.m. on that Wednesday morning, as Duke students slept in their beds before a long day of classes, Yale's largest two unions and workers at Yale-New Haven Hospital began a 23-day strike.
The unions are a collective bargaining unit, a power voting block that many view as representing the rights of the New Haven residents. During the strike, Yale's bathrooms went uncleaned, trash accumulated and dining halls shut down for weeks. Yale learned once again that it could not function without its union workers and New Haven reaffirmed that it could not survive without its largest employer. Mayor John DeStefano is credited by both sides as an integral part of the negotiating boardroom.
"The strike demonstrated a lot of bad blood in the air between the workers and Yale," said Christopher Schuck, a 1999 Yale graduate who currently lives in New Haven. "There had been some superficially resolved things from past conflicts and the strike just tore apart all of that."
Jackson had come to rally the troops of the Local 34 and 35 of the Federation of University Employees--which represent clerical and technical workers and service workers, respectively--who had walked off the job for higher wages and better pension benefits after bargaining began in February 2002.
Schuck, like many "townies" as they are called in New Haven, cites the strike as a visible representation of Yale-New Haven relations. Roughly 2,000 union members--most, if not all from New Haven--marched on Yale's campus as the strike neared to an end.
For much of Yale's history, New Haven has been simply a backdrop for the school and while in recent years the institution has made some moves to improve local life, such actions have been limited.
Richard Brodhead, dean of Yale College and president-elect at Duke, acknowledged that in the past, Yale overlooked New Haven as an area of particular focus. He added that Yale has attempted in recent years to be a more active and enriching citizen.
The school's claims, however, of an internal imperative to enhance the local area often fall flat.
The university's campus is metropolitan and shops like Urban Outfitters and J. Crew line the streets, relying heavily on Yalies' expenditures. Beyond the small enclave of student-subsidized retail shops, however, growing sentiment of division separates many residents from the Yale community.
Local artist Joseph Darren pointed out the paradox in Yale's advice to undergraduates to stay away from certain areas of the city, citing them as particularly dangerous, yet encouraging student involvement with community service.
"A lot of people from the Yale administration encourage students to remain separate from the community," he said. "There is somewhat of an 'us versus them' mentality."
New Haven, with a population of 123,000, was once an industrious seaport originally settled by Puritans. But town-gown relations have not always been as rosy as the city's humble beginnings.
The school has had notable conflict with its surroundings since its move to the city in 1716, most frequently with the town residents who fill its ranks as Yale employees. The Local 35 had gone on strike five times--in 1971, 1974, 1977, 1984 and 1996--before the August breakdown. Workers striked for a record 53 days in 1971, and they cited "social commitment to New Haven" from Yale as a crucial point in contract renegotiation.
At the heart of Yale's disagreements with unions and with New Haven are issues of race. Charges of hiring discrimination by Yale ring throughout New Haven and racial controversy is a particular sticking point for university-town relations.
Yale's managerial staffs are disproportionately white; less than 6 percent of managers are black and less than 2 percent are Hispanic, despite the fact that New Haven is 37.36 percent black and 21.39 percent Hispanic. Low-paid service workers are overwhelmingly black and few jobs are regularly staffed by Hispanics.
Many New Haven residents were angered during the fall 2003 strikes when they perceived the university as playing the race card on the city. Seventy-three percent of the lowest-paid service workers, including cleaning and serving staffs, in the Local 35 at Yale are black and 5 percent are Hispanic. Yale utilized non-unionized Hispanic workers as temporary replacements during the strike, attracting criticism for kindling racial tensions.
Duke, however, is not free from these criticisms either. University and union discourse has been particularly race-driven in recent years and most managerial staff members are white. Durham, with a population of 187,035, is 45.51 percent white and 43.81 percent black, according to the 2000 census.
Another issue of contention between Yale and New Haven is the university's tax status. Yale, as a nonprofit, is exempt by a 1834 state law from having to pay property taxes on its academic buildings. A Connecticut program repays the city roughly two-thirds of the revenues lost due to the exemptions, which have been scrutinized for over two-thirds of the past century. Nonetheless, the status still costs New Haven roughly $39 million a year.
Some, including New Haven aldermen, suggest that Yale make voluntary payments to help make up the growing deficit in New Haven's budget. The school worth $10.5 billion makes only $7 million payments to the city each year, including taxes and municipal charges.
The university touts its yearly tax payment, as well as programs to help first time homebuyers and improve quality of life issues, as examples of its commitment to the community. Locals, however, are skeptical.
In comparison, Duke paid $5.4 million in taxes and fees in 2002-2003, but donated $14 million worth of municipal services in-kind. A recent publication from the Office of Public Affairs estimates Duke's direct donations to the community at roughly $51 million, much of it in unpaid health care services.
Yale's seemingly restrained involvement in New Haven also contrasts greatly with many of Duke's advancements for city revitalization in Durham in recent years. Duke's Neighborhood Partnership Initiative, a community-based program founded in 1996 to increase University outreach in the areas surrounding campus, targets 12 neighborhoods, forming collaborative partnerships with area homeowners associations and seven elementary and middle schools.
Dozens of community service organizations and opportunities, a resourceful Community Service Center and classes with service-learning components are also vital parts of the Duke community's commitment to Durham.
While Yale may offer students such service opportunities, fulfill all of its mandated financial obligations to the city and implement various programming, many said the university has much room for improvement in the Yale-New Haven relationship.
"Everyone agrees that Yale could do more," Schuck said.
Kelly Rohrs contributed to this story.
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