A U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey finds 85% of Americans want to know how unions spend their dues. In Connecticut, however, the Department of Labor (CTDOL) charged with enforcing a transparency law has chosen not to — shielding union leaders while leaving workers and taxpayers in the dark.
This isn’t partisan posturing. It’s ordinary American – and Connecticut workers – asking for the basic accountability that comes with paying dues and trusting others to manage those funds. Workers want to know where their money goes. Taxpayers want to know they aren’t underwriting corruption. Yet in Connecticut, the very agency tasked with protecting worker rights has decided those voices don’t matter.
A Law Born of Corruption — Now Ignored
Back in the 1950s, public outrage over widespread union corruption and racketeering pushed Congress to act. The result was the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), which forced private-sector unions to file annual financial reports so members could see how dues were spent. Public-sector unions, however, largely escaped that federal requirement.
Connecticut tried to close that gap. The state enacted Conn. Gen. Stat. §31-77, requiring any union with more than 25 members to file verified annual financial reports with the CTDOL. The statute’s intent is straightforward: protect workers from abuse, make sure dues were spent responsibly, and give members the right to demand audits.
Yet the safeguard has little force today. In an Aug. 8 letter to state Senators Stephen Harding (R-Brookfield) and Rob Sampson (R-Wolcott), Labor Commissioner Danté Bartolomeo described §31-77 statute as “redundant” and “burdensome” — and announced the department’s decision not to enforce it. That choice effectively renders the law optional.
According to a recent article by Yankee Institute’s Labor Fellow Frank Ricci, “This rationale is indefensible. Commissioners are not empowered to decide which laws are worth enforcing.” Ricci added, “If Bartolomeo truly believed she had discretion to ignore Sec. 31-77, she would never have asked lawmakers for ‘technical changes.’ That request alone proves she knows the law is binding — she has simply chosen not to comply.”
Worse: in 2022, CTDOL quietly attempted to repeal §31-77 by slipping language into a larger “technical changes” bill without highlighting the deletion in testimony. The agency entire written explanation for the package read only that it was “seeking to have various obsolete statutes and subsections repealed.” If transparency were truly so “redundant” and “burdensome,” why conceal the repeal inside a catch-all bill?
When Regulators Look Away, Union Bosses Help Themselves
Where disclosure laws are treated like suggestions, the predictable consequences are what you’d expect: corruption, abuse, and cover-ups. Connecticut’s history offers multiple examples:
In 1993, AFSCME Local 1565’s president and treasurer siphoned more than $200,000 through forged checks and underreported membership.
Two decades later, leaders of AFSCME Local 478 were later charged with first-degree larceny for spending roughly $74,000 in member funds on personal salons, dining, and car repairs.
Adding to the list, a former Newtown police union president, Andrew Stinson, who led the union from 2007 to 2010, and treasurer, Domenic Costello, were convicted after looting nearly $100,000 from the union treasury to cover personal bills and mortgage obligations. Investigators said the two treated the union’s account like a personal piggy bank, withdrawing large sums and depositing them into their own accounts.
Furthermore, the New Haven Federation of Teachers became a national embarrassment after an election collapsed amid allegations of financial mismanagement, gift card giveaways, personal loans, and extortion; the AFT ordered a do-over citing voting irregularities and mounting disputes over President David Cicarella’s control of union finances
In 2022, the treasurer of AFT Local 3949’s was charged after allegedly pocketing nearly $18,000 in dues by skimming deposits and filing false reports.
Despite court findings about improper practices by the statewide firefighters’ union (UPFFA), its former president, Pete Carozza, was later appointed to the State Labor Board by Governor Ned Lamont—sending a troubling message that misconduct may carry no professional consequences.
In 2023, the Milford Police Benevolent Association president was caught embezzling $184,000; he walked away with probation after restitution.
These are not isolated anecdotes. Each scandal shows what happens when transparency laws go unenforced: abuse becomes easier, detection becomes harder, and public trust collapses. As Ricci warns, the Department’s inaction has created “a culture of lawlessness.” Union leaders don’t bother filing reports. Members don’t even know they have the right to see them. And a statute that’s been on the books for decades is treated by regulators as optional.
Connecticut’s Defiance of Public Will
The law already requires transparency. The public overwhelmingly demands it. Yet the enforcers refuse to act. Commissioner Bartolomeo’s decision to ignore §31-77 hands union leaders a blank check while stripping workers of their rights. By failing to enforce the statute — and by attempting to erase it quietly — CTDOL has sided with institutions rather than with individual workers.
Governor Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong are not mere bystanders. Their offices have the authority to insist on lawful enforcement and to ensure public institutions protect citizens’ rights. By looking the other way, state leadership collectively sends a dangerous signal: when union bosses break the law, the state will protect them, not the people whose dues fund the organizations they run.
Enforce the Law
The path forward is straightforward and long overdue: Enforce §31-77.
- Require timely, verified annual financial reports from unions representing public employees.
- Publish union financials online and in accessible formats so members and taxpayers can review them easily.
- Impose meaningful penalties for noncompliance and follow through when violations are found.
- Educate members about their disclosure rights and make it easy for them to request audits and records.
Transparency is not a burden — it is the minimum protection dues-paying workers deserve. When 85% of Americans demand disclosure, there is no excuse for Connecticut’s culture of lawlessness. Until lawmakers reassert their authority and regulators remember their oaths, Connecticut will remain a cautionary tale about what happens when government bends to union power instead of serving the people.
New Yankee Institute Report: Overtime Spiking at Connecticut State Police is Costing Taxpayers Millions
Separately, the Yankee Institute’s new report documents how persistent overtime spiking across the Connecticut State Police is inflating pensions, draining the budget, and threatening the sustainability of the payroll system.
Key findings include:
- Connecticut spends over $375 million annually on overtime, with State Police accounting for more than $60 million.
- In the years immediately before retirement, officers’ overtime averaged 177% of base salary, producing pension calculations up to 34% higher than final base pay.
- Systemic overtime spiking persists for more than 800 officers hired before 2017, while reforms for newer employees have reduced the incentive and opportunity to spike.
The fiscal consequences are large and ongoing: inflated overtime boosts pension liabilities and diverts funds from other priorities. Addressing the problem requires a mix of policy fixes, management oversight, and enforcement of payroll controls.
Join Yankee Institute on Wednesday, October 8 at 12:00 pm for a webinar breaking down the costs, the consequences, and the solutions.
Speakers:
- Red Jahncke, CEO of The Townsend Group, founder of TheRedLine.com, and author of the new report
- Jack DeOliveira, Policy Director, Yankee Institute
Click HERE to ready the study
Click HERE to register for the webinar
