From the Times: Ending a three-week strike, Yale and its two main unions reached a tentative eight-year contract yesterday that will give many workers raises of more than 40 percent over the life of the pact and provide the embattled university with years of labor peace... "I'm very pleased with it," said John W. Wilhelm, president of the hotel employees' union. "The fulcrum of the agreement is the union agreeing to an unusually long-term contract, which enabled the university to significantly improve some of the terms, particularly the pensions. That's a good exchange." ...Under the tentative accord, union officials say, monthly pensions will nearly double, when the 30 percent increase in the pension formula is tied to the sizable wage increases. Throughout the strike, the unions asserted that pensions were too low, saying that the pension for the average worker who retired last year after 20 years or more was just $621 a month... Under the accord, the clerical workers are to receive raises of 4 percent the first year, 5 percent the second, 4 percent in years three and four, then 5 percent in each of the next four years, with 2.5 percent given each January and each July. With their annual pay now averaging $33,000, this will increase their pay by 44 percent... The dining hall and maintenance workers are to receive raises of 3 percent in the first year, 3.5 percent the second, 3 percent in years three and four. In each of the next four years, they are to receive raises of 4 percent, with 2 percent given each January and each July. With these workers averaging $30,000 year in pay, the contract would increase their wages by 32 percent over eight years. The previous contracts expired in January 2002. One of the major issues was whether the workers would receive full retroactive pay for the wage increases. Under the agreement, workers are to receive two-thirds of the retroactive wage increases due them, with a minimum retroactive payment of $1,500... The new contract includes a 1.5 percent multiplier on the first $30,000 of salary, 1.4 percent on the next $25,000 and 1.3 percent on salary above $55,000...