SEIU 1199’s Steve Thornton discusses the events surrounding Hartford’s first annual May Day celebration, coming Saturday May 1 to Burr Mall, Main Street next to city hall in Downtown Hartford – music, food, workshops and a walking tour of labor history in Hartford.

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Carmen Cotto, a worker and member of UNITE/HERE at the TJX Distribution Center in Bloomfield, CT, discusses the issues surrounding the March 10 rally – such issues as treatment of workers, wages, and health benefits.

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In a blatant attempt to decapitate the Hartford Federation of Teachers (HFT), Superintendent Stephen Adamowski has hired a law firm to enforce a “use tax” upon union leadership, according to HFT officials.  Because HFT president, first vice president and second vice president are on what’s called detached duty, sources inside union leadership say that the law firm, Shipman and Goodwin, maintain that the union must pay a tax for the detached duty, the services provided by the leadership.  To date, neither the Board of Education nor its legal representation has provided  evidence to support this claim.  Adding to the assault, the Board of Ed. sent HFT leadership a letter stating that as of August 24 its detached duty will be considered unauthorized, unpaid leave.   This change would cause the three officers of HFT to lose their rights to contribute to their individual State Teachers Retirement accounts and lose their health insurance benefits.  Read the full story

Shawn Lang (CT AIDS Resource Coalition) and Matt O’Connor (SEBAC) of BetterChoicesforCT.org discuss advocacy efforts at the state capitol to create a more progressive and egalitarian state budget.

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Better Choices For CT, 1199 New England & SEIU Healthcare will host a rally against service cuts for a fair budget and strong economy on Wednesday, March 25 4:30 PM at the State Capitol. Call 860- 251-6021 for more information.

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Between 4 and 5 pm this afternoon, members of SEIU Local 32 BJ picketed at 750 Main Street to protest P & J Cleaning Services, LLC.  P & J is the company contracted to clean this building.  According to union flyers, many cleaning workers lost their jobs on January 1, 2009 allegedly because of their union membership, despite years of prior service in the building.  Currently the National Labor Relations Board is investigating P & J.  Read the full story

Interview with Wanda Cobbs, bus driver, and Maggie Russell, organizer for CSEA/SEIU Local 2001, about the fight for West Hartford bus drivers and workers to unionize.

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West Hartford- On a cold December 8th morning, bus drivers for the West Hartford public schools held a “freezin’ for a reason” picket outside town hall on South Main Street.

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