Retirement Security

Working Hard to "Prevent an Economic Disaster"

Tue, 05/09/2017 - 5:00pm
News that layoff notices for as many as 1,100 state employees will be delivered this week is causing considerable anxiety and frustration for union members and the public they serve. Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced the job cuts in late April — despite ongoing efforts to urge better choices than slashing vital services or the workforce that delivers them. Since then his administration's budget officials have warned of worsening deficits, adding urgency to a deepening crisis.
 
Click here for our previous update on the layoffs announcement.
 

Public Employees Converge on the Capitol to Defend Rights

Mon, 03/27/2017 - 6:00pm
With chants of "We Will Fight!," a crowd of nearly 1,500 on Friday took over Minuteman Park in Hartford to denounce lawmakers' proposals to silence the voices of working people. The rally was organized by members of unions representing Connecticut's public sector workforce as part of a series of actions throughout the day at the State Capitol complex. They came to resist 77 individual bills that, if passed into law, would roll-back collective bargaining rights and undermine state and municipal public service employees' pay and benefits.
 

State Employees Defend a Voice for All Working People

Tue, 02/28/2017 - 5:00pm
Thousands of union members last week packed the Legislative Office Building (LOB) in Hartford to express their opposition to a dozen bills threatening a voice for all working people. The legislation — all sponsored by Republican lawmakers — drew condemnation from a diverse cross-section of the state's labor movement. Public employees in particular turned out in force to denounce the most egregious proposals jeopardizing their fundamental collective bargaining rights.
 
Click here for press reporting on the legislative hearing.
 

Public Sector Compensation Myths Debunked

Thu, 12/15/2016 - 1:00pm
A respected non-partisan research organization has exposed a deceptive attack on Connecticut public employees designed to diminish the effectiveness of the vital services they deliver. An Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study released last week discredits oft-repeated claims by anti-union special interests that public-sector workers in Connecticut are “overcompensated."
 
Click here for the study.
 

Agreement Reached to Shore Up State Employees' Retirement Security

Fri, 12/09/2016 - 12:30pm
Representatives of the 15 unions in the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) yesterday reached agreement with the administration of Governor Dannel P. Malloy to restructure state employee pension fund payments. The agreement does not impact members' retirement benefits or require increased employee contributions; it does, however, stabilize pensions by ensuring obligations to current and future retirees are fully funded.
 
Click here for the signed memorandum of understanding (MOU).
 

Assistant Attorneys General Unite for a "Voice and a Seat at the Table"

Wed, 10/19/2016 - 10:30am
Hartford - Assistant attorneys general (AAGs) by a nearly 2-to-1 margin have voted in favor of union representation in an election overseen by the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations (SBLR). The ballots cast by the bargaining unit of 179 legal professionals employed by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) were counted yesterday following two weeks of voting by mail.
 

Labor Day 2016: Why America Needs a Strong Movement for Working People

Mon, 09/05/2016 - 12:30pm
Our national union president in her annual Labor Day message reminds us how a strong labor movement has helped workers, our communities, the economy and our democracy grow and thrive. Randi Weingarten additionally uses the occasion to call on all our members to join her in taking action to support policies that make it easier, not harder, to join a union:
 

Attorneys Organize for a More Stable, Secure Future

Fri, 09/02/2016 - 5:00pm
The week before Labor Day, assistant attorneys general (AAGs) and public defenders (PDs) filed petitions for union representation with the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations (SBLR). Approximately 200 AAGs in the Office of the Attorney General have recently begun organizing with AFT Connecticut's assistance. At the same time, approximately 172 PDs with the Division of Public Defender Services have united with Council 4 AFSCME's help.
 

Spotlight: Retirees Demonstrate "Senior" Activism

Sat, 08/20/2016 - 10:30am
Retired members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated unions do not fit easily into popular, preconceived notions of life after employment; particularly those who remain engaged in the labor movement. Tomorrow is National Senior Citizens Day, and we're taking time to spotlight a few who not only defy stereotypes, but who exemplify "seniority" in both knowledge and experience.
 

A New Years' Message to Our Members

Thu, 01/14/2016 - 4:30pm
As we enter 2016, I find myself looking for positives in the labor movement and it's easy to become discouraged. I hear politicians and big corporations blaming the poor, people of color and immigrants for the disappearance of the middle class and worsening income inequality. The real issues we face are obscured by political sideshow.
 
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