Posts tagged Connecticut
Connecticut workers rally for unemployment insurance after 2 weeks on strike
April 20, 2025 // He added that those who are opposed to the bill are not against it because of how much it costs. “They are opposed because they don’t want things to be remotely fair,” Stanley said. “They want all the power on one side. All that has led to is growing inequality. We need a change across Connecticut and across this country.”
CT Electric Boat workers OK strike option, as UAW President Fain tells company ‘clock is ticking’
April 17, 2025 // Among Local 571’s demands are record wage increases, pensions for all members, a cost-of-living adjustment, profit sharing and better health care benefits. In the meantime, Local 571 members are working under the terms of their expired agreement. Electric Boat officials were not immediately available for comment on Monday night. Company officials said in a statement last week that they had “presented our best and final offer” to the union in the previous week. They added that their offer “provides historic wage growth, a continuation of our premium benefits package and retirement enhancement for all employees.”
Sen. Fazio to Union Boss ‘Don’t California My Connecticut’
April 12, 2025 // The evidence isn’t anecdotal anymore — it’s a nationwide pattern. According to the Heritage Foundation, “About 2.8 million more Americans moved out of high-tax states than moved to high-tax states between April 2020 and July 2023.” The migration wasn’t limited to CEOs and tech moguls: “This pattern is true of all income groups, though this pattern is especially true of those making $200,000 or more annually.” In fact, between 2020 and 2023, “The 10 states that have the highest taxes as a share of state GDP… lost 2.3 million residents,” while the 10 lowest-taxed states gained over 2.1 million. High-income individuals, the very people targeted by Connecticut’s proposed capital gains surcharge and mansion tax, are by far the most mobile: “There are nearly 60 people making $200,000 or more who move out of high-tax states for every 40 who move in.” These aren’t people looking to dodge minor inconveniences. They’re voting with their feet — despite the high costs of relocation
Oregon and Washington workers may soon be able to claim unemployment benefits when they go on strike
April 7, 2025 // Oregon’s measure would make it the first state to provide pay for picketing public employees — who aren’t allowed to strike in most states, let alone receive benefits for it. Washington’s would pay striking private sector workers for up to 12 weeks, starting after at least two weeks on the line.
New Haven firefighters’ union sues state union after relationship breakdown
March 14, 2025 // New Haven's firefighters’ union, Local 825, announced Tuesday the filing of a four-count lawsuit against the Uniformed Professional Fire Fighters Association of Connecticut, a union which represents the state's fire departments, alleging a breach of fiduciary duty.
A Connecticut school district is giving bonuses to teachers who show up for work
March 10, 2025 // The program has won such favor among teachers that in the first two quarters of the year, the district has already spent the $126,000 budgeted for the program. The incentive program started in July, the district's director of human resources said. Director of Human Resources for the district Kimberly Schulte said the Board of Education started the union-approved attendance incentive in response to teacher absenteeism. She said that because of open positions, the district's $38 million salary budget can cover the rest of incentive program this year.
CONNECTICUT: OPM employee allegedly defrauded Medicaid of $1.8M while on the job
March 6, 2025 // A former Office of Policy and Management employee allegedly defrauded Medicaid of roughly $1.8 million while simultaneously earning more than $90,000 per year as a labor relations specialist, according to a U.S. Justice Department’s case against Suhail Aponte and a review of state payroll records. Aponte worked as a labor relations and public information specialist for Hartford Public Schools before being hired by the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) in May of 2022, nearly one year after forming Minds Cornerstone, LLC, a business that purported to offer services for children with autism.
Connecticut’s Nonsensical Plan to Subsidize Strikes
January 17, 2025 // A proposed workers' rights bill will worsen Connecticut's affordability crisis and ignite labor unrest. Proposals to provide striking workers with unemployment benefits and set arbitrary regulations for warehouse workers threaten Connecticut’s economic future. On January 14, two bills advanced in the Labor Committee that might well be the spark that ignites widespread labor unrest, even as the push imposes heavier burdens on our state’s consumers and taxpayers.
House Republicans serve up reforms for tipped wage and paid leave
January 16, 2025 // House bills 4001 and 4002, introduced by Reps. Jay Deboyer, R-Clay Township, and Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, would modify new laws that, as of Feb. 21, will require paid time off for all employees and minimum wage for tipped wage workers. The 2024 decision by the state’s high court followed years of lawmaking, and the resulting laws, which have become a hot potato for both parties. Taken together, the new laws could increase restaurant costs by a quarter or more, according to a restaurant industry survey.
Minimum wage increasing in nearly half of states, including Nebraska
January 14, 2025 // The minimum wage will increase in nearly half the states this year even as the federal wage floor remains stuck at $7.25 per hour. In many states, the minimum wage is automatically adjusted upward as inflation rises. But voters in several states, including deeply red ones such as Nebraska, Alaska and Missouri, chose in November to significantly increase their minimum wages this year.