All News

Offering Hope through Union Activism

Thu, 10/13/2022 - 5:00pm
Members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated local unions representing health professionals in an increasingly consolidated industry are raising the alarm when it comes to an escalating patient care crisis. In an interview for our national union's online "AFT Health Care," Backus Federation of Nurses President Sherri Dayton (left in photo, below) offers insights and suggestions for overcoming challenges. Her timely advice includes supporting candidates seeking political office this November running on the "labor is your neighbor" platform:

Taking Action to Resolve Windham’s Patient Care Crisis

Fri, 09/16/2022 - 2:30pm
Caregivers in the state's "Quiet Corner" are joining the growing chorus of their colleagues across the nation calling strikes when provoked by heartless health chains. Local AFT Connecticut-affiliated union leaders in a joint commentary explained how members reached this difficult decision. Windham Federation of Professional Nurses President Andrea Riley, RN, (left photo, below) and Windham Community Memorial Hospital (WCMH) Employees United President Heather Howlett, CA (right photo) collectively urged support from "all who share our concerns:"
 

Resisting a Deceptive, Anti-Union Agenda

Wed, 08/31/2022 - 3:30pm
Escalating attempts by billionaire-bankrolled local front groups to undermine Connecticut's labor movement are falling flat and destined for failure. That's the message AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel (right, in photo below) delivered in a recent letter to the editor of CT Examiner. She flunked a mouthpiece who in a previous published letter carried water for "shadowy, dark money-funded front groups with an agenda opposed to working peoples' interests:"
 

Preserving a Community’s Vital Health Services

Mon, 08/22/2022 - 5:30pm
Members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated local unions representing health professionals employed by Hartford HealthCare (HHC) are resisting attempts to gut their patients' obstetric services. In a recent opinion piece, Natchaug Hospital Unions United Vice President and community coalition leader Brenda Buchbinder (at microphone, in photo below) called out the chain's neglect, urging executives make "maternity services safe and local once more."
 

Boosting Wages to "Raise Our Standard of Living"

Sat, 07/30/2022 - 5:30pm
Local affiliates have for the past three months continued to transform the future of work for themselves and the next generation at the negotiating table. Historic wage gains aimed at improving recruitment and retention are the highlight of a recent contract showcased in our latest collective bargaining wins report. The victory is a prime example of members - both today and tomorrow - benefitting by choosing "Union YES" and accomplishing more together than alone.
 

Offering Simple Lessons in Public School Finance

Fri, 07/08/2022 - 12:30pm
AFT Connecticut Field Representative Ed Leavy brings his experience in public education and labor activism to a wider audience in a recent nationally-published commentary. He delves into the deep disparities in our state public schools' funding, exposing a wide chasm between wealthy communities and cities struggling with poverty. Leavy's analysis serves as a warning of an approaching tipping point that "will become impossible to ignore:"
 

Lifting Up Labor Leaders and Helping Students Soar

Thu, 06/30/2022 - 5:30pm
More than 100 delegates representing members of AFT Connecticut's affiliated local unions came together in-person for the first time since 2019 for our state federation’s convention. Capping the June 4 event was a luncheon where labor activists who over the previous 12 months lived up to the event's theme of "better days ahead" were recognized. Annual scholarships aimed at helping members and their families beat the rising cost of higher education were also announced.
 

Sending Hope and Taking Action on Gun Violence

Wed, 05/25/2022 - 1:30pm
Members of our AFT Connecticut-affiliated local unions representing educators and support staff in Newtown Public Schools relive the Sandy Hook massacre with each school shooting headline. Yesterday's incident in Texas closely mirrors their own horror, in which six of their colleagues and 20 of their students were in December, 2012 slain. Trent Harrison, a science educator at the town's high school and president of our Newtown Federation of Teachers, captured his colleagues' emotions in an open letter to the nation:
 

Realizing Historic Wins to Secure a "Better Future"

Fri, 04/29/2022 - 3:30pm
Lawmakers in late April approved significant investments in the state workforce, capping union members' efforts aimed at successor contracts. Our latest quarterly collective bargaining report showcases seven affiliated public employee locals and their wider coalition's landmark achievement - their first such agreements without concessions in more than a decade. Together they demonstrated how a seat at the table yields much more than pay raises and better conditions.
 

Making Gains "at Every Step of the Salary Scale"

Mon, 01/31/2022 - 6:30pm
The recent pattern begun last year of affiliated local unions negotiating contracts with solid pay increases has over the past 90 days continued to be repeated. Our latest collective bargaining report features one such affiliate whose leadership overcame historic inequities to win a ground-breaking new agreement in negotiations with their employer. Members' personal progress will additionally benefit the community they serve as the provisions promise to stabilize the workforce for years to come.
 
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