The state has awarded just 1.1% of the $34 million budget for the Essential Workers COVID-19 Assistance Program since it launched.
Julie Kushner
Lamont, labor headed for a showdown over ‘hero pay’
Labor leaders say staffing shortages will become a pandemic unto themselves if essential workers aren’t properly compensated.
Connecticut’s COVID labor law gets quick test in court
Workers laid off from a highway service plaza McDonald’s filed suit in an early test of a labor rights law.
CT lawmakers call on state to forgive unemployment overpayments for thousands
The lawmakers say the burden of correcting the overpayments shouldn’t be on people who filed their applications in good faith.
A labor agenda picks up speed in Connecticut
The labor agenda’s advance is delighting social-justice warriors energized by the tumult of the times — but is rattling conservatives.
In an evolving economy, lawmakers take roles once played by unions
Economic trends and union struggles are pushing lawmakers to resolve through legislation questions once answered by collective bargaining.
Pandemic eases, and complicates, legislating
The legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee co-chairs skipped the masks, but they were very socially distant.
As jobless rate soars, state sets rules for reopening businesses
The rules for reopening Connecticut are coming out. But state officials warned not to expect a rapid recovery.
Some Senate Democrats still publicly hedge on tolls
We asked the seven Senate Democrats whose votes on truck tolls have been in question. Here’s what they said.
Legislators looking to expand PTSD benefits to more emergency responders
The move to expand PTSD benefits comes just one year after lawmakers reached a landmark compromise to cover police and firefighters.
Council begins study of discrimination against people with criminal records
Connecticut residents with criminal records face 559 barriers that can limit their ability to lead successful lives after they’ve been released from prison.
Senate revives, then adopts deal on PTSD benefits for first responders
A day after one bipartisan deal to expand post traumatic stress disorder benefits to first responders bogged down, Democratic and Republican senators approved a revised bill.
If awkwardly, Lamont and labor unite over $15
Gov. Ned Lamont went to a Hartford nursing home Tuesday to sign a copy of legislation raising the minimum wage. The event was choreographed but the governor went off-script.
Ignoring clash with Lamont, Senate passes family leave
Senate Democrats voted to pass a paid family and medical leave bill, leaving the governor’s veto threat for another day.
Lamont veto threat exposes rift with labor
The threat to veto a family leave bill lays bare an inherent tension in Gov. Ned Lamont’s politics: He is a labor ally from the world of business, where government is suspect.