Procedural Cross-Unit Bargaining: An Argument in Support of Greater Union Solidarity in Labor Negotiations

Abstract

The recognized and prospective unions of workers at Yale University have for many years been joined in an alliance that presents a fairly typical example of cross-unit solidarity. This alliance, now known as the Federation of Hospital and University Employees, is comprised of Local 35, representing Yale’s service and maintenance workers; Local 34, representing Yale’s clerical and technical workers; the Graduate Employees and Students Organization (GESO), which seeks recognition as the bargaining unit for Yale’s graduate student teachers; and a group of workers at Yale New-Haven Hospital who seek union recognition.