Evidenced by his recent approval ratings, Gov. Dannel Malloy has turned Connecticut into a state of cynics. I used to be one of these cynics, feeling powerless and disillusioned. But I will not let that deter me from the important work ahead to restore faith in our state government.
Labor
Posted inNews
Teamsters approve Sikorsky deal by lopsided margin
Teamsters Local Union 1150 voted by a 15-1 margin Sunday for concessions sought by Lockheed Martin as part of an incentives deal with the state that will keep its Sikorsky Aircraft subsidiary and production of its next generation of helicopters in Connecticut, state officials said.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics, Transportation
Municipal, business and labor leaders plan summit on economy
Connecticut’s municipal, business and labor leaders will convene their second annual fall summit next month to develop strategies to bolster the state’s economic future.
Posted inMoney
Malloy in talks with state unions to restructure payments owed pension fund
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration is in negotiations with state employee unions — but only over how to restructure payments Connecticut owes to its cash-starved employee pension system, not any changes in benefits or employee contributions.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Auditors: State employed spills-response supervisor who couldn’t do the job
State environmental protection officials employed for 15 months a hazardous spills-response supervisor who was “incapable of performing the duties” — wasting resources and potentially threatening public safety — State Auditors John C. Geragosian and Robert M. Ward reported Wednesday.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Lockheed puts big number on cost of business in Connecticut
Legislators say a senior Lockheed Martin official told them in private meetings Monday that $200 million in incentives the company wants for its Sikorsky Aircraft subsidiary are needed to help offset the $400 million more it would cost to produce CH-53K helicopters in Connecticut in coming years rather than in competing states.
Posted inMoney
State’s jobless rate falls to 5.6 percent
Connecticut’s unemployment dropped slightly from 5.7 to 5.6 percent in August as the state added 300 jobs, the Department of Labor reported Monday. The new unemployment rate still remained higher in August than the 5.3 percent rate of one year ago.
Posted inHealth, Money, Politics
Union ad challenges Malloy’s ‘new economic reality’
The state’s largest health-care workers’ union launched a new television ad Wednesday attacking Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s austerity policies and urging state officials to consider raising taxes on Connecticut’s wealthy.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The minimum wage in Connecticut: We need to look elsewhere
In December I expect that the Low Wage Board will recommend an increase in the state’s minimum wage. Should that occur, I will not be supporting the board’s decision. Given how the board was legislatively constituted, it is an outcome that should come as no surprise. With the increase to $10.10 in January 2017, Connecticut’s ability to attract and retain businesses will continue to fall and the result of any further increase will result in an explosion in our already unsupportable social service costs.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
On Labor Day, honor working people
Labor Day marks the end of summer, of family vacations and long days by the pool. It is a signal that the days of carpooling, Little League and homework are about to commence. While often regarded as a day for one last barbecue, Labor Day is importantly about celebrating the contributions of all working people. … And while Labor Day is a time to reflect on the incredible achievements of workers, we cannot ignore the fact that it comes during a critical election cycle and an unprecedented number of attacks on the rights of working people at the local and state level as well as in the race for President.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
American working class discovered in Connecticut!
On this Labor Day, I have an important discovery to announce. No, it’s not Proxima b, the nearest planet to our solar system. My discovery is this: there is an American working class! And it exists right here in Connecticut. In fact, 62 percent of the population is working class. Because it’s not about income, it’s about power. Most of us have no control over what we do. The corporate elite (under 2 percent) make those decisions for us.
Posted inPolitics
Pelletier pressures Jepsen to accept unionization without vote
HAMDEN — Lori J. Pelletier, the president of the Connecticut AFL- CIO, used a Labor Day unity meeting Friday to urge labor leaders to pressure Attorney General George Jepsen to drop his neutrality and embrace an effort by AFT-Connecticut to unionize 196 lawyers in his office.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
At Yale, a graduate student union vote at last
As a graduate teacher in Political Science at Yale, I study how activists, politicians, and philosophers in the world’s two largest democracies—India and the United States—have thought about democratic forms of government. I’m doing a PhD because I think that ideas matter: they move us to question the world we live in and imagine new ways of living together. It’s this spirit that I try to bring to the classrooms where I teach. In the coming days, I will get to participate in a new kind of democracy for me. I’ll get to vote to certify my union Local 33–UNITE HERE, the union of graduate teachers at Yale University.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Huge red flag: rehiring UConn employee who got high on state time
Does someone have to get hurt before our state stands up for what’s right? UConn Health Center appropriately fired an individual who put the public at risk by getting high while working a job that involves driving a state vehicle and operating motorized equipment. But following an arbitration ruling in support of the employee’s case, the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld the arbiter’s finding instructing UConn Health to rehire the employee who got high on state time in a state vehicle.
Posted inHealth, Money
Parents of disabled urge Malloy to scrap privatizing group homes
Parents of intellectually disabled adults expected to be transferred from state-run group homes to private care reacted Tuesday with a mix of anger and appeals for compassion.