There is going to be a State employee rally at the Legislative Office Building on March 24th.  There are over 60 bills aimed at State employees, many of which are expected to be put to a vote on March 24th.  Attached is the list of bills (many of them are duplicative); the bad bills are highlighted in yellow and the very bad bills are highlighted in red.

State employees must make a show of force to thwart these anti-labor bills.

We will have more details about A&R's plan for the rally as we get closer to March 24th.  It is essential that we stand together to preserve our benefits.  A large

The Tax Attorneys at the Department of Revenue Services were non-union State Employees until they signed their union cards just over a week ago.  Their attempt to unionize and join A&R was presented to the CT Labor Board on Monday were the State voluntarily recognized them as union members...meaning they are officially A&R members!  This is the first time that A&R has actively pursued non-unionized State Employees and brought them into our ranks.

On behalf of all of A&R, welcome aboard!

This would not have been possible without the tremendous organizing efforts and knowledge of Eric Borlaug and

Governor Malloy gave his budget address to the General Assembly today.  Not surprisingly, his proposed budget is balanced on the backs of state employees.  His two year proposal reflects $700 million in "savings" from state employees in 2018 and an additional $860 million in "savings" in 2019.  While his speech provided no details of where these "savings" would come from, his reference to revisiting the SEBAC contract makes clear his intentions.  To put this in perspective, according to OPM Secretary Ben Barnes, in the first year, "savings" of $700 million could require a 10 percent reduction in the state workforce, or about 4,200 state employees.

Frustrated?  Contact your legislator and make your voice be heard.

• House Members email addresses
• Senate Members email addresses
• Find YOUR legislator

Meet legislators at the Regional Legislative Meetings sponsored by AFT (link).

• Text of the Governor's speech (link)
• Office of Legislative Management Budget Summary (link)
• PowerPoint of Governor's recommended budget (link) 

posted 2/8/2017

Lobbying isn't restricted to the lobbies of the capitol building.

AFT Connecticut sponsors regional legislative meetings throughout the state.  These meetings provide the opportunity for members to meet with legislators to discuss issues important to them.  Several regional meetings are scheduled in March and April.  We urge you to attend a session.  These are the people in Hartford voting on your future.  Let them here your voice.  Please attend one of these important meetings in your region.

List of 2017 Regional Legislative Meetings

For more information or to sign up contact Teri Merisotis at 860-257-9782 or tmerisotis@aftct.org

Posted 2/8/17

CHRO Attorney Charles Krich is the AFT-CT "spotlighted" employee for his work to protect and uphold civil rights in Connecticut.  Attorney Krich has been serving the State and protecting the rights of Connecticut residents since 1981 and is another A&R member we are proud to have honored.  Read the spotlight and view Charlie's youtube statements about his efforts.

THANKS TO ALL MEMBERS WHO CONTACTED THEIR LEGISLATORS
(Lobbying works!)

The pension funding agreement reached between the Office of Labor Relations (OLR) and the SEBAC unions was passed by both chambers of the General Assembly on Wednesday 2/1/17.  The vote was very close.  The House voted 76-72, while the Senate was tied at 17-17, with Lt. Governor Wyman casting the deciding vote.  A&R President John DiSette and Vice President Mike Myles were at the Capitol lobbying on the Union's behalf throughout the day and got to witness some of the drama.  Most notable was the recommendation to increase state employee pension contributions by 4 percentage points.  This effort was led by Len Fasano and Themis Klarides (Senate Republican  leader and House Republican leader).  The State will now avoid Governor Malloy's "fiscal cliff" by normalizing pension amortization costs over the coming years.  This will ensure that future pension obligations can be met and the pension system remains stable.  The pension funding agreement does not increase employee pension contributions.

One crisis avoided, now we turn to the $1.5 billion budget deficits of FY18 and FY19.  The Governor will give his budget address on Wednesday Feb. 8th.  This will set the framework for legislative action during the rest of the session (which ends June 7th).

LOBBYING AT THE CAPITOL

Pictured on the left: CT/AFL-CIO Pres. Lori Pelletier, A&R Pres. John DiSette, A&R Vice Pres. Mike Myles at the Capitol

Pictured on right: A&R Pres. John DiSette with District 56 House Member and former A&R Pres. Mike Winkler at the Capitol

posted 2/3/17