LABOR RALLY TO BE HELD:

Thursday, Sept. 21
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

State Capitol Building

The General Assembly passed a budget which is hositle to state employees.  We are urging the Governor to veto this egregious legislation.  Organized labor is holding a rally at the State Capitol to urge Governor Malloy honor his pledge to veto the budget recently passed by the General Assembly.

Join workers, faith leaders, students, and clean government advocates on Thursday, Sept. 21, at 12:00 p.m. in Hartford for a rally to support Governor Malloy’s promise to veto the anti-worker budget.

What’s so awful about

A&R has signed a new lease agreement to maintain our current location at 805 Brook St, Rocky Hill for 7 more years (yes, it has already been 7 years since we moved to this location from North Mountain Rd in Newington).  We negotiated a new cost sheet for our lease which will lower our lease well below our current costs and in fact will still cost less every year for the next 7 years than what we are paying now!  The current location is a class A rental property, it is well maintained, has plenty of space, has the ability to seat over 75 people in our conference room and has plenty of parking. 

10/8/2017 Foxwoods Casino Trip (see flyer)

10/21/2017 Bronx Zoo Trip (see flyer)

11/2/2017  Habitat for Humanity Build (details and registration have not yet been provided.  Attendees will need to use PL or Vacation for the day.

11/3/17   Professional Development at Water's Edge (this is tentative scheduled as final OLR approval is still pending.  There will be a registration form available once approval is granted.  Attendees can utilize one of their 10 days of Professional Development Leave.

11/10/2017 Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular (see flyer)

12/1/2017  A&R Annual Holiday Party at the Aquaturf (see flyer)

12/2/2017  New York City Do Your Own Thing (see flyer)

Any P-5 employee may substitute any and all designated furlough days with any other day or days to be served not later than June 30, 2018. Individual requests shall be granted or denied subject to agency operational needs.

We have confirmed with OLR that the above agreed to language has been dissmenitated to the HR departments of the various agencies.

- posted 10/13

There have been some implementation issues relating to the furlough days for various unions so an agreement and new guidance was released to HR directors relating to retirees.  Essentially the furlough days will be charged

Looking for a position that requires the skills of an advocate, educator, and organizer?

Applicants for a union steward position should send: (1) a cover letter; (2) a résumé; and (3) the names of two A&R members in the applicant’s agency who will serve as character references.

Please send your application either by email to plamb@andr.org or by mail, attention Patrick Lamb, Chief Steward at A&R, 805 Brook Street, Rocky Hill, CT  06067.

All applications for this round of recruitment should be filed by close of business October 6, 2017.

If you are selected for an interview we will contact you to

In a surprise move at the Legislature this weekend, several Democrats, both in the House and the Senate, sided with Republicans, voting in favor of a Republican budget proposal (HB 7501).  The controversial bill awaits review by Governor Malloy, who has signaled his intentions to veto the legislation.

The bill contains several agency budget cuts and consolidations, which comes as no surprise as the legislature needs to address a $3.5 billion dollar deficit.  However, in addition to the funding cuts, the bill incorporates language which is hostile to collective bargaining for state employees.  If not vetoed by the Governor, the bill will become law. Changes that negatively impact state employees and our collective bargaining process include:   

• Increases pension contributions for all employees to 7% of salary in 2027
• Lowers the Tier2, 2A, 3 pension calculation in 2027
• Ends retiree pension COLAs in 2027 for ALL retirees
• Ends OT in pension calculations starting in 2027.
• State Labor contract agreements or arbitrated agreements would be rejected if not voted on in the legislature within 30 days.  Any rejected agreement would then have to be arbitrated (or re-arbitrated) and sent back to the legislature for automatic passage.
• Limits what an arbitrator may consider for the State's "ability to pay" during negotiations.
• Allows the State to break contracts under certain circumstances.  This is not just labor contracts this is any and all contracts...it is unclear if they actually tried to deem themselves this much power and authority, but it certainly seems to violate federal contract laws.
• Limits SEBAC and union agreements to 4 years
• Requires the Comptroller to annually review the SEBAC2017 agreement to ensure that the projected savings are achieved and allows the Governor to recover any lapse if insufficient savings.

Most of the changes above also included a provision requiring a 2/3 vote in both chambers to amend or repeal...this clearly can't withstand a legal challenge.

Despite the good will and cooperation we showed and the tremendous savings we granted the legislature through our own monetary sacrifice, there remains no respect and no gratitude from certain corners of the legislature...they have a mission and we are their target.  Although this budget will most likely be vetoed by Governor Malloy, it is likely that some toxic pieces of the above provisions will continue to be advocated from the well of the legislature as the next budget is brought forth.

We need to remain vigilant.  We have a contract and we are going to enforce it through 2027.

There will be more to come as the budget debate stirs up again.

-9/18/17