Posts tagged Connecticut
3 CT state employee unions to get pay hikes worth 4.5%
December 4, 2025 // The raises, ordered for judicial marshals, their supervisors and a third group that includes probation officers, information technology analysts, assistant clerks, counselors and other support staff, are retroactive to July 1, when the fiscal year began. The award announced Wednesday also increases the likelihood that dozens of additional bargaining units in state government — which haven’t yet settled compensation deals — will get similar raises. And if that happens, it will mark the fifth consecutive year state employees’ compensation has increased by about 4.5%. (A step hike typically adds about 2 percentage points to the overall raise value.)
CONNECTICUT: Nurse’s Three-Year Ordeal Over in Three Months
December 1, 2025 // Cheryl found the Fairness Center and filed a lawsuit. Within three months, the union backed down and agreed to settle the lawsuit by acknowledging her resignation and refunding her money–with interest–for the full three-year period.
Operator To Pay CT Highway Service Plaza Workers $1.5M, Allow Unionization, Lamont Says
November 18, 2025 // In addition, through an agreement facilitated by the Office of Attorney General William Tong and the Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL), Project Service, the operator of the service plazas, has agreed to pay $1.5 million to resolve allegations that its food service subcontractors underpaid workers in violation of standard wage laws. The settlement requires that Project Service certify food service subcontractor operators pay standard wages going forward.
Editorial: Unions share blame for layoff fallout
November 1, 2025 // "To date, the Stamford law firm of Silver Golub & Teitell has been paid $50.8 million for representing the unions and the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, according to the state comptroller's office," Mr. Hughes wrote. "The settlement set attorney fees at 17.5% of the total damages each class member receives," extrapolating "to roughly $290 million in compensatory and economic damages." Union attorney Jonathan M. Levine figured the actual payouts amounted to between $190 million and $215 million.
America Doesn’t Have Enough Weapons for a Major Conflict. These Workers Know Why.
October 28, 2025 // Historically, in the fight against their bosses, unions have had only one real weapon to wield: their numbers. The primary goal of a labor strike is to blockade production and inflict pain on the company so that it will negotiate better terms. But in Orlando, it was hard for the union to enlist enough workers for the fight. Florida is a “right to work” state, meaning that union membership is optional. Workers in an organized factory are free to return to their stations and get back to work, leaving everyone else on the picket line to fight for a contract that would eventually apply to everyone.
Starbucks workers union planning pickets, rallies through Nov. 2. See in which states
October 27, 2025 // Starbucks, for its part, says it is willing to bargain with the union, which the company says represents about 9,500 of its "partners," or employees. "Workers United only represents around 4% of our partners but chose to walk away from the bargaining table. If they’re ready to come back, we’re ready to talk," corporate spokesperson Jaci Anderson said in a statement to USA TODAY. "Any agreement needs to reflect the reality that Starbucks already offers the best job in retail including more than $30 an hour on average in pay and benefits for hourly partners," Anderson said. "We’re investing over $500 million to put more partners in stores during busy times. The facts show people like working at Starbucks. Partner engagement is up, turnover is nearly half the industry average, and we get more than 1 million job applications a year.”
The 15 Most Unionized Places in America
October 16, 2025 // To determine the most unionized locations in the U.S., researchers at Construction Coverage analyzed data from UnionStats.com and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The researchers ranked metropolitan statistical areas according to total union members as a percentage of total employment. In addition to union membership, the researchers also included statistics on union representation, which is the share of workers whose terms of work are collectively negotiated (whether or not they are union members). Only metropolitan statistical areas with available data were included in the analysis.
Pratt & Whitney Employee Slams IAM Union With Federal Charges For Imposing Illegal Post-Strike Discipline
October 6, 2025 // Union officials insulted worker for wanting to resign membership and keep working, incorrectly told workers P&W was “closed shop”
85% of Americans Want Union Transparency. Connecticut’s Labor Dept Says No
October 5, 2025 // Connecticut tried to close that gap. The state enacted Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-77, requiring any union with more than 25 members to file verified annual financial reports with the CTDOL. The statute’s intent is straightforward: protect workers from abuse, make sure dues were spent responsibly, and give members the right to demand audits. Yet the safeguard has little force today. In an Aug. 8 letter to state Senators Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield) and Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott), Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo described §31-77 statute as “redundant” and “burdensome” — and announced the department’s decision not to enforce it. That choice effectively renders the law optional.
Former teachers union president sued, accused of $40M campaign cash grab
October 3, 2025 // Dupont said she opted out of supporting the union’s PAC when she signed her membership card. “Then I found out that a handful of union insiders spent $40 million of teachers’ dues – including mine – on the union president’s political ambitions. That’s wrong, and I believe it’s illegal.”