It wasn’t a standing room only crowd, but more than 100 state employees and retirees gave up a few hours of their sunny Saturday afternoon to get more information about the $1.6 billion union concession package they will be asked to vote on in the next few weeks.
The five-year agreement makes various changes to their health care and pension benefits. It offers job security for four years, freezes their wages for the first two years and increases their salary by 3 percent in the final three years of the agreement.
Cindy Lewis, of Southbury who works for the University of Connecticut Medical Center as a secretary at the Bridgeport Correctional Center, said she’s glad she came to get the information from union leadership.
Up until Saturday Lewis said because of the secrecy of the negotiations all she had to go on was bits and pieces of information, many of which turned out to be inaccurate.
“Instead of finding it out for themselves thousands of workers were led to believe things that weren’t true and are going to vote on misinformation,” Lewis said. “If 20 percent don’t approve the package it could throw us into a tailspin.”
Eighty percent of the voting members and 14 of the 15 unions have to vote in favor of the package in order to ratify the agreement. If the agreement isn’t ratified Gov. Dannel P. Malloy warned last week that there will be more than 4,700 layoffs and programmatic cuts, which will eliminate even more state employees some with more than 10 years of service to the state.
Lewis said union leadership spent about 20 percent of their time Saturday explaining the agreement and left the rest of the time for questions from members. She said they dispelled a lot of the myths, including rumors that SustiNet is part of the health care package.
“It has nothing to do with it,” Lewis said as she left the meeting.
The lack of information at the beginning of the process created a void which a few people filled with misinformation, Lewis said. And she admitted that misinformation was tempting to believe.
Stephen Anderson, a member of CSEA Local 2001 who works in the Department of Environmental Protection’s air pollution control division, said he doesn’t like having to give up anything, but on the other hand he doesn’t want to see any of his colleagues laid off. He said the misinformation about things like the health care package seems to be coming from a vocal minority who don’t fully understand the package.
He said he would be embarrassed if he had to go home and tell his neighbors he voted against this package which guarantees his job for the next four years.
Steve Curran, a correction officer at Garner Correctional Institute, said more people seem to be coming to meetings like this to get information, but Saturday’s at the state Armory was the largest statewide meeting to date.
“We’re doing our best to gather information for our members,” Curran said.
Asked what concerns he’s been hearing and Curran said one word “change.”
The Correction Officers union, which voted against the package in 2009, has been one of the more vocal bargaining groups when it comes to the changes in the package.
Curran wouldn’t say how he was going to vote, but he said he understands there’s concerns about the Value-Based Health Care plan which saves money by making sure state employees attend their annual physicals and routine age-appropriate exams such as colonoscopies. If they fail to attend the annual appointments they will be charged more in monthly premiums, and for the first time will be subjected to a $350 deductible.
“I think the idea of going to the doctor once a year is something we need to warm up to,” Curran said.
Matt O’Connor, spokesman for the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition and CSEA/SEIU Local 2001, said the problem is going to be the folks sitting on the fence, not with the vocal minority or those attending these informational meetings.
But he said he doesn’t believe the myths and misinformation are sticking.
Meanwhile, Larry Dorman, another SEBAC spokesman, said union leadership has to make sure it does everything it can to education its membership and answer their questions.
Republican lawmakers have criticized the package because they don’t believe the estimated savings in the $1.6 billion package are achievable.
House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero and Senate Minority Leader John McKinney have said the assumptions made by the savings in the concession package are questionable.
“They’re sort being pulled out of thin air,” Cafero said.
Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!
As an example, Cafero highlighted projected savings from employee suggestions, which are estimated to save the state $90 million in the first two years of the agreement. Cafero questioned the state’s ability to find $180 million in savings from an “employee suggestion box,” over the next two years.
He also said $250 million from the health care initiatives, of which union leadership said they are most proud, is highly suspect. “It’s really on shaky ground,” Cafero said.
“Unfortunately, the more we see the details, the less there is to like,“ said McKinney. “A four-year, no-layoff pledge, which no one in the private sector has, leaves us four years from now, right where we started. Unemployment in the private sector is 9.1 percent. Unemployment in government is zero percent.”
More State Budget news

Lamont Signs The Budget
Alongside Democratic legislative leaders, Gov. Ned Lamont signed the $24 billion budget adjustment Monday that includes $600 million in tax relief. That’s more than they anticipated they would be able to offer Connecticut residents this Election year because revenue came in higher than expected, but it still creates about an $800 million deficit in 2024. …
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | It’s A Wrap: The Winners and Losers of the 2022 Session
It was a short legislative session, but the House and the Senate were able to move a lot of business this year, including the passage of a $24-billion budget with around $600 million in tax cuts.
Keep reading
Connecticut Acts To Help Its Lead-Poisoned Children
After decades of inertia, Connecticut is finally moving to help its thousands of lead-poisoned children and prevent thousands of other young children from being damaged by the widespread neurotoxin.
Keep reading
Bill Bolstering Contracting Oversight Board In Jeopardy After Lamont Administration Raises Concerns
It passed unanimously in the Senate, but a bill that would give the State Contracting Standards Board greater oversight over state contracting appeared stalled in the House Wednesday on the last day of session. “The governor and I have not talked about the bill,” House Speaker Matt Ritter said. “The commissioners have sent us a…
Keep reading
Senate Approves Tax Cuts, Sends $24B Budget to the Governor
The state Senate gave final approval late Tuesday to a $24 billion election year budget plan that includes around $600 million in tax relief while enabling the state to make an $3.5 billion payment on its unfunded pension debt. Senators voted 24-12 at around 10:30 p.m. to send the midterm budget adjustment to the desk…
Keep reading
House Green-Lights $24B Budget
On a party-line vote early Tuesday, the House passed a $24 billion budget adjustment package containing more than $600 million in tax cuts which Democrats heralded as “historic” and Republicans derided as temporary. Lawmakers voted 95 – 52 at around 12:20 a.m. to send the 673-page budget document to the Senate for consideration before the…
Keep reading
Budget Materials
The General Assembly is preparing to debate adjustments to the $24 billion state budget. Below are a few of the documents we’ve been provided as back-up materials. The budget, HB 5506. Town runs. Car tax impact on municipalities. Finance Committee Power Point.
Keep reading
Lawmakers May Vote for First Pay Increase in 20 Years
With legislative retirements mounting, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were considering Monday raising the salaries of General Assembly members for the first time in more than two decades and indexing their pay in the future. During a morning press briefing, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters that funding for pay raises had been…
Keep reading
Amid Surging Revenue, House Prepares to Vote on Budget Adjustments
Connecticut’s House of Representatives was expected to vote Monday on a $24 billion budget adjustment package, buoyed by revised revenue predictions that exceeded expectations by more than $350 million. The revised consensus figures released Monday confirm the surge in revenues that enabled Gov. Ned Lamont and legislative Democrats to reach an agreement last week on…
Keep reading
Dems Detail Budget Deal With $500 Mil in Tax Cuts, Extension of Gas Tax Holiday
Legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration announced Wednesday the details of a $24.2 billion budget adjustment package, which they say provides around $500 million in tax relief including extending a gas tax holiday until December. Lamont and legislative leaders outlined the agreement during an afternoon press conference in the state Capitol building. Both chambers…
Keep reading
Health Care Workers Call for New Hires
After a record number of health care workers are expected to retire this year, health care staff called on Gov. Ned Lamont to commit to filling 1,000 vacant positions by August 1 of this year. A record 1,137 state workers who notified the state that they will retire this year comes at a moment of…
Keep reading
Senate Joins House And Votes To Give Raises, Bonuses To State Employees
The Senate gave final approval by a 22-13 vote on a plan to give unionized state workers a set of raises and bonuses. The plan, negotiated by Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration and a coalition of public sector labor unions, provides three years of 2.5% raises and step increases as well as a total of $3,500…
Keep reading
House Advances Labor Deal In Historic Vote
Lawmakers in Connecticut’s House of Representatives signed off on a plan to give state workers a set of raises and bonuses Thursday in a mostly partisan vote on a negotiated labor agreement. The House voted 96 to 52 in support of the deal with 1 Republican, Rep. Tom Delnicki of South Windsor, joining all Democrats…
Keep reading
Republicans Propose Last-Minute Tax Package
Legislative Republicans pitched a $1.2 billion tax relief plan Thursday which reduces state income, sales and gas taxes and proposes to join other states in suing the federal government to challenge restrictions on spending pandemic relief funds. House and Senate Republicans announced the plan during a state Capitol press conference Thursday morning. It cuts the…
Keep reading
The Budget Battle Begins To Take Shape
Tax collections have improved and pushed Connecticut’s budget surplus to $4 billion, but the state budget still relies heavily on federal funding and without it the state would end up running a “sizeable operating deficit.” The Office of Policy and Management told state Comptroller Natalie Braswell Wednesday that if not for the use of the…
Keep reading
Ritter: Time Is Running Short For Budget Agreement
The legislature will have a difficult time approving a state budget before the end of its session in two weeks if lawmakers and Gov. Ned Lamont do not reach an agreement in the next 48 hours, House Speaker Matt Ritter told reporters Wednesday. During a morning press briefing, Ritter said the legislative schedule was looking…
Keep readingMore Health Care News & Analysis

Budget Green Lights Psychedelic Therapies
Buried in the budget Gov. Ned Lamont signed this week is a provision that would create a pilot program to allow Connecticut to be the first-in-the-nation to study the impact of psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and MDMA on patients with depression and PTSD. The budget now creates a pilot program within the Department of Mental…
Keep reading
Officials Highlight Effort To Boost Mental Health Services For Kids
At a Hartford-based community provider Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont and a handful of his agency commissioners highlighted the expected impact of more than $100 million in recently passed funding aimed at increasing behavioral health services for Connecticut children. The governor appeared at The Village for Families and Children, a recipient of new state funding included…
Keep reading
Democrats Turn Focus To Roe v. Wade
With the legislative session and the conventions in the rearview mirror, Democrats in Connecticut are turning their focus to the U.S. Senate and the upcoming vote to codify Roe v. Wade and the impact it could have on the 2022 Elections. U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy was on Fox News Sunday talking about the issue, which…
Keep reading
OP-ED | Policymakers Did Little to Lower Healthcare Costs This Session
Last year, Connecticut policymakers accomplished little to reduce the cost of healthcare, and those costs haven’t gotten any better since then. Incumbents will be asked what they did this year to provide some relief. Unfortunately, they have little to offer.
Keep reading
ANALYSIS | Will the 2022 Legislative Session Help or Hurt Democrats in the Fall?
The short but surprisingly productive 2022 session of the General Assembly is coming to a close this week. As Democrats race to pass bills, and Republicans do all they can to talk them to death, a question that has to be on the minds of a lot of legislators is what the session means, if…
Keep reading
House Sends Omnibus Children’s Mental Health Bill To Senate
Connecticut’s House of Representatives approved a roughly $35 million bill Wednesday aimed at improving the mental health services available to children. There’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the children’s mental health crisis and lawmakers want parents to know they’ve been listening. To address the issue, including greater access to mental health services, the…
Keep readingMore Labor News

States With The Largest Unionized Workforces
Where does Connecticut stand in the list of states with the most unionized employees?
Keep reading
Business Leaders Make Push To Veto Captive Audience Bill
Connecticut business leaders are leaning on Gov. Ned Lamont to veto a bill that would restrict what employers can say in the workplace. The bill, which has been a priority of labor unions for years, is being described by business owners as an unconstitutional attempt to restrict workplace communications and an infringement on employer free…
Keep reading
‘Captive Audience’ Bill Headed To Governor’s Desk
Legislation prohibiting Connecticut employers from holding “captive audience” meetings to discourage workers from organizing received final approval in the House late Friday despite Republican arguments it was preempted by federal law. The bill passed in a 88 to 56 vote, generally along party lines. Eight Democrats joined all but one Republican in voting against it.…
Keep reading
Senate Advances Captive Audience Bill After All-Day Debate
The state Senate debated and passed a bill Thursday that outlines what employers can and can’t tell their employees in the workplace. Dubbed the “captive audience” bill, the legislation which passed the Senate 23-11, has been a topic of discussion for years at the state Capitol. It received bipartisan support this year despite opposition from…
Keep reading
Nursing Home Workers Ready To Strike in Windsor
A strike at a Windsor nursing home accused of unfair labor practices will proceed unless a tentative agreement for raises and other benefits is crafted by 6 a.m. Friday, according to officials with the New England Health Care Employees Union, SEIU 1199. The union and four other homes, Avery Heights, Bloomfield Health Care Center, the…
Keep reading
Home Care Workers Finally Have Something To Celebrate
Connecticut’s home care workers, who have struggled without a contract since last summer, are celebrating today. After almost a year of negotiations, the state has agreed to give the 10,000 workers a pay increase, health insurance, and even paid time off. The workforce, which is mostly women –predominantly women of color, take care of 6,000…
Keep reading