"I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it's part of the solution. You cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement."

-- President Barack Obama, Jan. 30, 2009

BE SURE TO CHECK THE CALENDAR PAGE EVERY WEEK...

...and go to our Action Center to see actions you can take now to support working people.

Stop and Shop is hiring scabs while negotiations are presumably underway with United Food and Commercial Worker locals in Connecticut.


Bill Shortell, Central Conecticut Labor Council President, thought next time you go food shopping at a Stop and Shop you should have a conversation with the store manager.  See how it could go...

Republican Senate leaders are so frightened that a member of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) might actually have an open mind about workers’ rights, that in two purely partisan maneuvers, they’ve blocked a majority vote on one of President Obama’s nominees for an NLRB seat. Read More>>

Earlier this week, we noted a new study that predicts health insurance premiums will jump between 10 percent and 11 percent this year. Now a new government report says health care costs last year took the biggest bite ever out of the nation’s economy. Read More>>

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis says workers face increasing obstacles when they try to form unions and “we need to restore their freedom to do so.” In testimony before the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee today, Solis looked back at the department’s actions in 2009 and forward to its 2010 agenda. Read More>>

Greater Hartford Central Labor Council officers and delegates along with other Labor activists recently showed up at Bradley airport in Windsor Locks to stand in solidarity with the American Federation of Government Employees as AFGE seeks to organize Transportation Security Officers of the Transportation Security Administration.

Granting collective bargaining rights to airport screeners and other Transportation Security Agency (TSA) employees would enhance national security, union leaders and Obama administration officials have said. (Read more...)

Construction was recently begun on the Workers’ Memorial in Hartford’s Bushnell Park as members of Operating Engineers Local 478 were hard at work getting ready to pour concrete.

Groundbreaking for the strructure took place in April, 2009.  When completed, the monument will honor those who have been killed or injured on the job. It is located near the Sailors and Soldiers Memorial in Bushnell Park and across the street from the Carrousel. The Health and Safety Committee of the Connecticut AFL-CIO worked for years to raise funds and to lobby for the memorial. Check out the pictures and stay tuned as we keep you posted with more photos of its development.

CT group warns state budget cuts would undermine economic recovery 

Even before the current recession began, Connecticut’s job conditions were worse than they were before the last recession at the beginning of the decade, according to a new report by Connecticut Voices for Children. In addition, the portion of unemployed workers who have been looking for jobs for more than 26 weeks is higher in Connecticut than in any New England state. Problems with the state’s economic engine extend beyond rising unemployment, however. Connecticut has been losing higher wage manufacturing jobs and gaining lower wage service sector jobs, and the leading area of economic growth – the health and education job sector -- is threatened by the prospect of severe state budget cuts.

The report, The State of Working Connecticut: Job Trends and the Labor Market, concludes that state government needs to take greater, not less responsibility for supporting Connecticut workers and creating higher-wage jobs. Severe state budget cuts would only worsen economic conditions for families in the state, according to the state policy thinktank.  (Read more...)

On Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 the Connecticut AFL-CIO held a ceremony to commemorate Workers' Memorial Day in honor of the workers who were injured or killed on the job and they broke ground for a permanent workers' memorial in Bushnell Park, Hartford.

CONNECTICUT LEGISLATORS' SCORECARD

The Connecticut AFL-CIO has created a guide used to score state legislators' voting records on issues of importance to Connecticut working women and men over the years. It's a tool that can be of great value to your members.

The Greater Hartford Labor Council, AFL-CIO represents over 25,000 members of 70 unions throughout north central Connecticut. The mission of the Greater Hartford Labor Council, AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families—to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our state and the nation.

Read more...   (and read the latest Delegates' meeting minutes at bottom of the "About Us" page)