Connecticut Unions Try to Get Laid-Off State Workers Rehired

July 26, 2016 

Hartford, CT – The unions representing the more than 1,000 state workers laid off earlier this year because of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s budget cuts are trying out multiple tactics to get them their jobs back.

The New England branch of the 1199SEIU health-care workers union launched a television-ad campaign July 20, with one ad showing a woman with cerebral palsy who says the only worker who knows how to adjust the computer she uses to communicate was laid off May 3. “The goal of this ad and of the subsequent ads is for lawmakers and the public to see first-hand the human toll these layoffs have had and the important role state workers have in our state,” said union spokesperson Jennifer Schneider. Meanwhile, Connecticut AFSCME held a rally at the state capitol July 19, featuring deaf and hard-of-hearing people who said they’re not receiving the services they need since their interpreters from the state Department of Rehabilitative Services were laid off and replaced by ones from private agencies. AFSCME spokesperson Larry Dorman said the union has filed grievances and prohibitive-practice complaints, and will be “making sure we inject service cuts and layoffs into the election campaign.” Read more