Union, Administration fail to aid casual workers

With the contract negotiation process between Locals 34 and 35 and the Yale Administration nearing the one-year mark, casual workers are finding themselves stuck in the middle of a contractual no-man's land. After electing to join the unions last year, many employees say that the Administration is using them as financial scapegoats, while the unions are not offering sufficient support.

A casual worker, by Yale's definition, is a worker who works fewer than 20 hours a week--the threshhold required to be promoted to permanent worker status. "Of course at Yale [the definition of a casual] does not always apply. We have `casuals' who have been at Yale for eight years. The relationship is hardly casual at all," union spokesman Deborah Chernoff said.

While casual workers are sometimes hired for permanent positions, more often than not they are instead given over-time hours so that their official status is still as a casual worker, which does not entitle them to receive benefits, such as a health insurance plan.

Such was the case with "David," a casual worker in the custodial department who wishes to remain anonymous for purposes of job security.

David's official work schedule allotted him 17 hours a week. In reality, David was working a total of 40 hours a week over an eight month period, until he was released last winter when the negotiation process came to a standstill.

Although he has been on waiting lists for jobs to open up, he has been forced to find another full-time job to support himself.

According to David, what happened to him is not unique. "All of us casuals have been let go [since the negotiations started]. I know I was working hard, showing up on time and doing my job well but then suddenly I was laid off for no reason."

"Before, there might have been more flexibility in favor of casual workers," said one student dining hall worker who asked not to be identified. "But now the new post-strike management is more likely to err on the side of full-time employees."

"I have noticed a little more turnover," Sonia Brewer, JE '97, a student employee in Jonathan Edwards College, said. "But I'm not sure if that's because of new rules or a changing management."

According to many casual workers, including David, "The management is really trying to let people go if they screw up. Before they allowed you to be late once or twice, but now it's not like that." This may mean, however, that "people are trying to be more efficient. If a casual has a history of coming in or missing shifts or something, they're more likely not to be asked to fill in," Brewer said.

Whatever the case may be, the result is the same--casual workers, especially in custodial, are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the union's effort to help them. "I hear a lot of hearsay about progress being made, but nothing's happening," David said. "A union is supposed to be strong, so I think they made a big mistake by cutting our manpower in half last year during the strike by having 34 go out first and then 35. I can see why they did it, but I think everybody should've gone out together."

Although casual workers do not pay union dues, all those present at last year's vote signed a union card, which, according to Chernoff was a sign that casuals "wished to be represented by a union on this campus that would act as a collective bargaining chip on their behalf." The University filed a suit against the Federation with the Labor Relations Board on the validity of such an election since casuals are, by definition, not permanent workers. The charges were later thrown out.

"During those contracts they [the Federation] said they would represent us in negotiations. They said if you sign our card, we'll try to get you as a permanent worker. But a lot of people were scabbing. This year they are making a half-assed effort. To me, the union is a joke in a way. To me, I think Yale knows it and that's why they have the upper hand," David said.

"I think people are certainly angry and frustrated with the University. We said in the beginning this could be a difficult fight and in fact, it has proved to be a difficult fight. But those who have been actively involved feel that we're making progress. It's a fight for our future and not just these contracts," Chernoff said.

Penny Kramer contributed to this article