A large and sweeping labor bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro would change how workers are classified as independent contractors, make shareholders liable for labor violations and requires employers be responsible for workers’ rights […]
The Labor and Public Employees Committee approved a bill that would give public employee unions unfettered access to employees’ personal information and work orientations and would codify union membership cards into state law. The legislation […]
The Hartford Federation of Teachers, AFT, is fighting a multi-year court battle with its own unionized office employees over wage and retirement benefits, pitting the teachers’ union against its own affiliate organization, the AFL-CIO. At […]
Rep. Anne Hughes, D-Easton, hosted a pool party for the Connecticut Working Families Party at her home in Easton – listed as a 4,900 square foot, 12-acre “magical estate” called “Fiddledale,” according to Realtor.com — […]
The Administrative & Residual Employees Union has reached an interim deal with the state of Connecticut to allow many of its members the ability to work from home part of the week, according to an […]
The Connecticut Board of Labor Relations approved full day union business leave and pay for union officials to attend an August 31 Connecticut AFL-CIO convention in Hartford that was scheduled to last only three hours, […]
The national AFL-CIO has tapped Working America, its political affiliate based in Washington D.C., to send canvassers to Connecticut for a “union member mobilization effort” and to talk with members about “the importance of the 2018 election cycle,” according to an email from AFSCME Council 4 Executive Director Jody Barr.
Last week Pelletier decided to lash out against the Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth with an op-ed in the Hartford Business Journal and some quotes in a CT Mirror story. According to her, the commission “attacks working people” because it is daring to discuss Connecticut’s financial problems and — gasp! — look at charts and graphs.
Connecticut's top union official wrote a letter to state employees asking them to approve a concession deal negotiated with Gov. Dannel Malloy and warned of "projected budget deficits in the billions."
In a letter to state union members, AFL-CIO President Lori Pelletier told union members they could secure their benefits until 2027 and gain four years of layoff protections under the concessions agreement.
The Connecticut State Legislature will begin its 2023 session on January 4th and will adjourn on June 7th. The “long session,” as non-election years are called in Hartford, will be centered around the biennial budget. The Office of the State Comptroller reports that state government found a way to spend $47.11 billion in 2022 and, if trends continue, we can expect that number to grow even more going forward. Concerns over energy prices, inflation, and general cost of living continue to dominate the headlines and the threat of a recession hovers over economic forecasts.
What will our elected officials be working on to improve policy outcomes for Connecticut residents? What tax reform proposals will there be? What can be done to lower home heating bills? How will state and local budgets be affected by fewer federal resources? How will schools be implementing to curriculum requirements?
While we wait to see the thousands of individual and committee bills that while dominate the myriad policy debates this year, Yankee Institute is hard at work promoting free-market solutions to the problems we face from Stamford to Putnam and Mystic to Salisbury. To that end, we have produced a new edition of our Charter for Change. The Charter provides commonsense reforms to make Connecticut’s government work for its residents.
Though the list of reforms may be exhausting to review, it is far from exhaustive! And that’s why we want to work with you to build a broad-based coalition to encourage sound policy reforms to enable Connecticut residents to forge a better future for themselves and their families.
It’s also imperative that we do so. As we noted in a report and CT Mirror op-ed last year, the debate over whether we’re in a national recession really misses the point for Connecticut residents. We had more people employed in the private sector in 2007 than we do today. Our economy has grown at one of the slowest rates in the nation for the past decade, and we are getting outpaced year after year. We’re not attracting innovation and industry. We’re losing some of our best and brightest as they seek other parts of the country where it’s easier to make a living.
But together, we can reverse this trend.
At Yankee Institute, we know Connecticut is a state with boundless opportunity, and we intend to help make our state more than a place where people are just able to make ends meet! Connecticut should be a place where everyone can thrive – and with your help, it will be.