Dannel Malloy looks more and more like Tom Foley, and Chris Christie, and Scott Walker every day. The governor seems to have forgotten Bridgeport, the electoral battleground which thanks largely to working class and labor people, clinched his election. In his proposed budget, he threatens collective bargaining of state employees in two ways: by eliminating the higher education exemption for managerial employees and by changing the requirement for that classification from two of four criteria, to only one:
Sec. 15. Subsection (g) of section 5-270 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011):
(g) “Managerial employee” means any individual in a position in which the principal functions are characterized by [not fewer than two] one of the following: [, provided for any position in any unit of the system of higher education, one of such two functions shall be as specified in subdivision (4) of this subsection:] (1) Responsibility for direction of a subunit or facility of a major division of an agency or assignment to an agency head’s staff; (2) development, implementation [and] or evaluation of goals and objectives consistent with agency mission and policy; (3) participation in the formulation of agency policy; or (4) a major role in the administration of collective bargaining agreements or major personnel decisions, or both, including staffing, hiring, firing, evaluation, promotion and training of employees.
Full text of the Governor’s budget act is here.
The governor may be using this tactic as a way to compel serious concessions on the part of public employees, though as long as it’s in the bill, union members have no choice but to take it seriously.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Chris Donovan, normally a friend to working people, has not killed Section 15, though he has the power to do so. Why? Because Donovan covets the US Senate seat to be vacated by Joe Lieberman and he wants to stay on Malloy’s good side so that governor can help him raise money.
A Filibuster of Condescension
At Tuesday’s Appropriations committee hearing, AFSCME Council 4 organized its members and like-minded people to testify on behalf of working people and their concerns. Themes of those who testified included the scant resources of already suffering school districts, libraries, social safety net programs, and elderly care. Neal Cunningham, Council 4 staff representative, framed the debate as a “revenue problem” in the state, rather than the popular and politicized term “spending problem.”
The process of testifying, however, was marred by obvious contempt and disinterest on the part of many assembly members on the committee. Speakers were met with condescending remarks, leading questions, rhetorical questions, and downright disrespect from elected officials. Most who were still in the chamber towards the end of the hearing (between 4:30pm and 5:30pm), like Representative Candelaria wandered drearily into their laptops, or left for coffee and came back. Sen. Kane outright chastised two presenters who made the mistake of referencing a bill that was not on the agenda. He was happy to sound like a smug parent lecturing a misbehaving child. In response to Cunningham’s testimony, a one representative insisted that CT was lucky to have so many rich people because of their generosity to such institutions as the Gray Cancer Center, or the Wadsworth Atheneum. She failed to mention that such donations are accompanied by tax right-offs.
The strong showing from Council 4 was a good sign, but the threat to public employees in CT and to social services are real. And, both Malloy and the Assembly seem fixed to allow the damage to happen unless working people continue to mobilize.
Monica Boomer of the 
Hundreds of union members and supporters gathered at the state Capitol in Hartford in solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, and to support rights of collective bargaining here in CT.
Capital Community College student Mariano Cardoso came to the US when he was 22 months old. A couple months away from graduation, he is now facing deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He is undocumented, but he knows no other home but America. This week on RadioActive, Mariano is joined by Trinity College student activist Theresa Meehan, from the Stop the Raid Coalition. A petition for Mariano has been set up 
Hartford teacher Joshua Blanchfield discusses the latest challenges in education, the problems with charter and magnet schools, and his response to Governor Malloy’s forecast for the state budget.
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