Local 33 Prez Adam Waters: “We need Yale to pay its fair share so that our city can be protected from the Trump administration’s weaponization of federal funds to punish cities and states that welcome immigrants.”
Rev. Scott Marks: “We must demand that instead of taking so much from our community, [Yale] actually makes a transformational investment in it.”
At the heart of Yale’s campus on Monday, several dozen people gathered for a union-led rally where they urged the university to more than quadruple its annual payments to New Haven for each of the next five years.
The rally took place as the city eyes the end to a six-year deal brokered by the Elicker administration, boding an upcoming drop in Yale’s annual voluntary contributions from around $24 million to around $16 million.
The local labor leaders’ demand, which would require Yale to pay the city $110 million per year, was announced from the steps of 1 Prospect St. on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The press conference drew members of New Haven Rising and the city’s four UNITE HERE local unions — Locals 33, 34, 35, and 217 — as well as Board of Alders President / Local 35 Chief Steward Tyisha Walker-Myers, Local 33 President / Board of Zoning Appeals member Adam Waters, and State Rep. Juan Candelaria.
“We do not need charity from Yale University. We don’t need charity from the 17 billionaires who call Connecticut home,” declared Leslie Blatteau, president of the New Haven Federation of Teachers. “Rather, we must, as Dr. King explained in 1967, undergo a ‘radical revolution of values,’” which requires Yale to “start[] paying what they owe to this city.”
The current city-Yale agreement, struck in 2021, saw the university commit to increasing its voluntary payments to the city by $10 million for five years. The deal steps down the university’s annual contribution bump to $2 million in the agreement’s final year, which begins on July 1.
Monday’s presser marks the latest effort by Yale’s unions and affiliates to pressure the university into contributing more to the city, often by citing its $44 billion endowment and tax-exempt local real estate holdings. Meanwhile, a newly passed 8 percent federal tax on endowments — a dramatic jump from the previous rate of 1.4 percent — is expected to cost Yale $300 million per year beginning on July 1.
Two of the university’s most politically influential unions, Locals 34 and 35, are also in the midst of contract negotiations with Yale, while the university’s graduate student-worker union, Local 33, is pushing to organize postdocs.
New Haven Rising leader Rev. Scott Marks said on Monday that the labor advocacy group is asking for $110 million because “the money that was missing from our badly-needed city was $106 million” last year. Their proposal would also require Yale to step up its payments over the next five years from a $110 million baseline, a commitment that he described as “a tremendous investment to this city.”
While the local unions have plans to speak with the city and Yale, Marks confirmed that negotiations have not yet begun.
“We can’t continue to have this beautiful ivory tower sitting in the middle of our community and not give back,” Walker-Myers said during Monday’s press conference. With $110 million per year, “our kids could be educated properly. Our kids could have after-school activities. Parents would be able to go and work one job, ’cause one job should be enough to sustain your family.”
She emphasized that $110 million per year is still short of what the university owes the city, but that amount over five years could help “get the City of New Haven back on its feet.”
She closed by alluding to the threat of a strike. Today, “we’re offering the olive branch,” said Walker-Myers. “The next move is up to you.”
Japhet Gonzalez, a senior at High School in the Community, used his remarks to describe his experience with mold, leaks, and rats at schools across the city.
“At first,” he said, “I thought” those problems “were just at [High School in the Community].” As he attended protests and spoke with students at other schools, he realized that those same issues existed everywhere.
“Why do we all have the same troubles in our schools, you know?” asked Gonzalez. He said he feels that speaking about Yale is important because there has not been “action on their part,” despite all of the union-led organizing.
“What will it take to get them to pay what they owe us?” said Gonzalez. “Community,” he answered. “Community goes to rallies, community testifying with personal experiences, community supporting other community members, community being united like this place today. [That] is what will get us to where we need to be.”
A Yale spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment by the publication time of this article.
In a previous comment sent to the Independent for this October 2025 article, a Yale spokesperson noted that the university agreed to contribute a total of around $135 million to New Haven over the course of the current six-year, city-Yale deal. “In addition to these voluntary payments,” that spokesperson said at the time, “Yale is proud to be New Haven’s largest employer and third-largest taxpayer. The university remains committed to building strong relationships with the New Haven community and supporting initiatives that respond to local needs.”
Japhet Gonzalez: “Isn’t it crazy to think that a part of New Haven won’t help other places in New Haven? Isn’t it crazy to think that if they did help and contribute money to the rest of New Haven, it wouldn’t affect them in any way?”
Protesters disbanding and preparing for another event on Monday evening.
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