A press release from the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HARTFORD – A new report released today from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) in Washington, D.C., shows that implementing a paid sick leave bill would actually save Connecticut businesses nearly $73 million each year.

IWPR and the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) are releasing the report in conjunction with Pay Equity Day because paid sick day benefits are considered a critical companion to equal pay in eliminating workplace discrimination and ensuring women’s economic security. Read the full story

For Immediate Release:

Video from Thursday:  Hartford SEIU1199 Strike 4/15/10

Thursday, April 15 at 6:00 am, District 1199 workers at four nursing homes began their strike for a fair contract against the Spectrum Healthcare corporation.

In Hartford, the workers at Park Place nursing home will be on the picket line (5 Greenwood Street, off Park Street*).
I hope you will join us!

Here are some facts:

**Workers at 32 other 1199 nursing homes have successfully settled their contracts.  In contrast, Spectrum has avoided giving raises to the Park Place workers for more than 2 1/2 years.

**While union workers provide excellent care to their patients (Spectrum has a five-star rating!), the nursing home chain is one the the most dangerous places to work in the nation. Injuries at Spectrum are twice as frequent as the national average.

**At the same time, Spectrum is trying to cut light-duty pay for injured workers!

The Spectrum workers need your support. Please join us on the line Thursday, this weekend, and for as long as it takes!

Stay in touch with the strike.  Go to our website:

http://www.seiu1199ne.org

*Here are directions to Park Place:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=cn5&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=0,0,17366308052694280939&fb=1&hq=park+place+nursing+home&hnear=hartford&gl=us&daddr=5+Greenwood+Street,+Hartford,+CT+06106-2110&geocode=15010557678215085335,41.755083,-72.709927&ei=denFS8TdG8K78ga44umXDw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=directions-to&resnum=1&ved=0CAsQngIwAA

photo credit: Steve Thornton

Got Equality? Not if you’re 51% of the population.

The new campaign slogan for the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women certainly gets right to the point. And if anyone is unconvinced of their assertion, then I wish you could have attended Women’s Day at the Capital on Tuesday.  Invited speakers and the public submitted testimony on Tuesday and called attention to many issues like health care, domestic violence and protection, education, employment, women in politics, and childcare.  Two high school students from the Young Women’s Leadership Program essay contest also read their winning essays which focused on breaking the cycle of domestic violence and the need for more women in leadership positions. Read the full story

February 9th is fast approaching and the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women is looking for oral or written testimony from the public on issues that are important to women.

Any interested individuals may testify by submitting oral and/or written or electronic testimony. For oral testimony, sign-up will begin at 9:00 a.m in the same room as the hearing. Oral testimony should be no longer than 3 minutes. Read the full story

Senator Lieberman: “Hear Our Prayers”
Clergy to deliver hundreds of prayer cards collected at a candlelight vigil for healthcare reform held outside Sen. Lieberman’s home to his Hartford district office today. Read the full story

Yahoo! News recently began a series of articles under the label of “FACT CHECK,” which presents itself as watchdog over politicians and their tricks.   Often, these articles seem much more like opinion pieces in disguise.  Take for example this article: “FACT CHECK: Health Insurer Profits Not So Fat.”  Writer Calvin Woodward is essentially a cheerleader for big insurance, while he unknowingly makes a case for universal single payer health care.  Read the full story

There will be a protest TODAY@ NOON at the Connecticut Governor’s Residence, 990 Prospect Avenue in Hartford. Governor M. Jodi Rell is attempting to eliminate detox beds in Hartford & Middletown, in addition to closing multiple substance abuse & psychiatric treatment facilities throughout the state. Please join us in telling the governor that this attack on Connecticut’s most vulnerable residents is unacceptable.

The General Assembly overturned Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s veto of the SustiNet healthcare reform bill on Monday. While the Democrats finally flexed their voting muscle in passing SustiNet, the Senate failed to overturn Rell’s veto of the Healthcare Partnership bill due to the refusal of Senator Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury) to cast a vote. The legislature overturned seven out of 20 bills that were vetoed by the governor.

Interview with Jill Zorn from the Universal Healthcare Foundation of CT (healthcare4every1.org) about Sustinet which is currently being debated in Connecticut government.

Click here to download the MP3

We bring you coverage from the January 13 rally at Union Station in Hartford where the Universal Health Care Foundation of CT unveiled its new plan for universal coverage called SustiNet.

Click here to download the MP3