Posts tagged Connecticut
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.
Over 9.2 million workers will get a raise on January 1 from 21 states raising their minimum wages
December 18, 2024 // Twenty-one states will increase their minimum wages on January 1, raising pay for more than 9.2 million workers by a total of $5.7 billion. In addition, 48 cities and counties will raise their minimum wages above their state wage floors, mostly in California, Colorado, and Washington.
Faculty at Connecticut state colleges walk out in protest of new report recommending staff cuts
December 11, 2024 // "They believe that, because of enrollment declines, we are too big and that we have too many faculty and staff… and for us, that means a shrinking of opportunities for higher education for the people of the state of Connecticut,” said CSU-AAUP President Louise Williams.
Hartford Fire Department puts controversial policy on hold
December 5, 2024 // The chief cited a clause in the union contract that took effect all the way back in 2008. It said paid members of the Hartford Fire Department cannot work for other departments at the same time, whether paid or unpaid.
Unionized Women & Infants Hospital workers prepare to launch strike Dec. 12
December 2, 2024 // The hospital highlighted its “generous proposal,” crafted over two months’ worth of “good faith” negotiations, according to a hospital press release. The current offer includes a $19 million wage and pension package over three years. That package would sport a minimum 5.5% wage increase for union employees, with some receiving higher bonuses, as well as low-cost health plans for workers. A strike, however, would cost the hospital at least $9 million just to continue operations as normal, and striking workers would not be paid for any shifts missed, Sullivan said.
Opinion: A kidnappers bargain: linking CT union and nonprofit interests
November 26, 2024 // Under Osten’s plan, state funding for certain nonprofits would automatically increase whenever state unions negotiate pay increases for themselves. At first, this seems like a solid strategy for ensuring that that nonprofits get funded. Actually, it is a clever tactic to turn nonprofit workers into a sympathetic de facto lobbying group for Connecticut’s dominant special interest — the government unions — despite having no other relationship to them. This alignment could incentivize nonprofits, which traditionally focus on service delivery, to shift towards advocacy for increased state spending —effectively lobbying for higher taxes and more government spending. What’s more, nonprofits would have a vested interest in supporting higher wages, regardless of the state’s fiscal condition or the actual needs of the programs they administer.
CONNECTICUT: State Employee Union Cries Recession is Coming to Save Temporary Jobs
November 26, 2024 // One of Connecticut’s largest unions, AFSCME Council 4, is pressuring Gov. Ned Lamont, along with Sen. Paul Cicarella (R-North Haven) and Rep. Mary Mushinsky (D-Wallingford), to intervene in stopping the planned layoffs of 49 federally funded, temporary employees at the Connecticut Department of Labor (CTDOL). In a call to action posted on AFSCME’s website on Oct. 15, the union argued that “these layoffs are NOT due to a shortage of work,” claiming that these workers are still essential as job growth has “severely declined nationally.” AFSCME also painted a grim picture, warning that “a recession is anticipated soon” and suggesting that Connecticut’s government is ill-equipped to handle an economic downturn when it materializes.
Connecticut: Another union complaint against Town of Branford dismissed
November 11, 2024 // The Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations dismissed yet another complaint made by the United Public Service Employees Union (UPSEU) against the Town of Branford. This is the third complaint this year. In September, the Board of Labor Relations dismissed a complaint that was filed by the UPSEU a year earlier. Three different units of the UPSEU-Branford—police workers, dispatchers and Water Pollution Control Authority employees—claimed that the Town of Branford violated the Municipal Employees Relations Act (MERA).