Nearly 2,000 Yale med school workers and supporters protest job cuts

Nearly 2,000 workers and community members rallied Thursday in front of the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., because they fear losing their jobs with the medical school, according to a New Haven Register report.

The workers, mostly members of Local 35 UNITE HERE and Local 34 UNITE HERE, are seeing unionized jobs at the Yale School of Medicine being reduced through layoffs and attrition, and they claim they're being replaced by non-union jobs at Yale New Haven Hospital, according to the report. Union officials contend the number of employees affected by the layoffs is around 100. However, Yale has not announced any staff reduction number.

Local 34 President Laurie Kennington told the New Haven Register Local 34 is starting to negotiate its next contract with the hospital, which will go into effect in January, and she hopes for a productive negotiation. "We wanted Yale to understand that job security is important," she told the publication.

Yale spokesman provided a statement to the New Haven Register, saying $160 million in cuts to Medicaid payments to Yale New Haven Hospital have resulted in "a comparable reduction" of about $18 million to services the hospital provides to the Yale School of Medicine.

"This significant reduction in revenue will require Yale School of Medicine to make significant cost reductions, and the school will work tirelessly to minimize the impact on the faculty and staff," Yale said, according to the report. "Given that the largest part of Yale's budget is compensation for staff, there will necessarily be some staff reductions."

However, Yale dismissed the union's contention that union jobs are being transitioned to non-union hospital jobs.

"This is NOT contemplated and the university has provided multiple assurances to staff and to union leaders that there is no current plan to move bargaining unit jobs to the hospital," Yale's statement said, according to the report. "This commitment remains in place. We want to emphasize that the current anticipated layoffs at Yale School of Medicine are NOT related to moving work to the hospital. They are the direct result of funding cuts to the school of medicine created by the state's cuts to Yale New Haven Hospital."