Yale Police Union Ratifies 7‑Year Contract

While New Haven’s police force remains in arbitration over a new contract, Yale cops voted 67 – 2 Tuesday to ratify a long-awaited new pact with the university.

The ratification by nearly all the non-supervisory patrol officers and detectives in the 93-person Yale department came after 28 months without a contract and more than three score and ten bargaining sessions.

On Oct. 18, Yale Police Benevolent Association (YPBA) leaders announced a tentative agreement on the seven-year contract. It offers 3 percent annual pay hikes; additional job security; cost sharing by the university for arbitrator fees on grievances, as well as improved due process and procedural rights protections.

Perhaps most important to union members, it does not include retiree health care givebacks that Yale sought, and that Yale obtained from other unions.

The contract covers the period from July 2016 to June 2023. By its end, Yale cops will be earning among the highest police salaries in Connecticut, according to Yale.

The all-day voting on the contract took place at the YPBA headquarters at 101 Ashmun St.

One of those who voted in favor was four-year department veteran Martin Parker.

“I like it,” Parker said as he and fellow community engagement officer Martha Ross, affixed spider webs, pumpkin-colored paper, and various skeletons and skulls to the YPBA headquarters in preparation for a Wednesday night Halloween party.

“It’s not 100 percent,” Parker, but he voted for it in the interest of ​“the greater good.” He particularly praised leadership for resisting Yale’s demand that, like members of Yale’s UNITE HERE unions, the cops participate in a Health Expectations Program (HEP) that requires mandatory medical tests as well as coaching for those with chronic conditions. In return, the union agreed to ​“small premium co-shares for two-person and family coverage under the Yale Health Plan, which is currently premium-free,” according to officials. The university also withdrew controversial proposalsto require members to keep paying premium co-shares in retirement; to eliminate reimbursement of Medicare Part B premiums; and to reinstate a $800 maximum out-of-pocket expense cap under the Medicare Rx Plan.

Yale University and the YPBA issued the following joint statement after Tuesday night’s vote:

Yale University and the Yale Police Benevolent Association are pleased to announce their successor collective bargaining agreement has been overwhelmingly ratified by the union membership. The negotiators for the University and the Yale Police Benevolent Association worked extremely hard over the course of numerous meetings to resolve issues and make necessary compromises. The parties reached an excellent agreement at the bargaining table while the University’s officers continued to serve the campus community with dedication and professionalism. Continuing this spirit, we look forward to advancing a collaborative relationship through mechanisms built into the new agreement.

New Haven police have also been working without a new contract since 2016. But the union and the city could not reach a contract deal, so the matter is now the subject of binding arbitration. Both sides see the situation as a no-win: The cash-strapped city feels it doesn’t have a lot of money to spend. But the city is hemorrhaging cops who are lured by suburban departments paying tens of thousands of dollars a year more per year and offering better benefits.

Cops Reach Out

Along with a new contract, also new to the Yale department is the position of community engagement officer. The first two to hold that position — Parker and Ross — were selected in September to inaugurate the program.

They were putting up colorful party decorations Tuesday on the main floor of the police headquarters while the voting was taking place in a room below.

“These officers have already engaged in programming with student groups, residential colleges, campus staff, the athletics department and other New Haven community members and groups,” stated Yale Police Chief Ronnell Higgins.

Those activities included taking 30 city kids to see a recent Yale football game, an experience Parker, who spent two years with the New York Giants, knows quite a bit about.

Was there any relationship between the party being planned for Halloween and the newly ratified contract?”

“Just a coincidence,” said Parker as he and his partner went back to finishing the decorations.

The party runs from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at headquarters, 101 Ashmun Street, and it’s open to all city kids.