The Nation - News from Jan. 25, 1988

Yale University sweetened its contract offer to two unions representing about 3,500 workers in an attempt to avert a strike. The unions were drawing another revised proposal at midnight, the strike deadline. A strike would close many student dining halls and curtail building maintenance. Yale’s new offer would mean an average increase of 24.2% over four years for technical and clerical workers, and 23.7% for blue-collar workers, a Yale spokeswoman said. The school’s previous offer had included raises of about 16% over three years. Clerical workers under the old contract earned an average of $16,800 a year, a spokeswoman said. The others earned nearly $10 an hour, she said.