Street Heat for a Just Recovery Takes on Corporate Greed

Street heat for a Just Recovery has turned up in Connecticut coming out of the pandemic, with demands that the state's billionaires, nursing homes and Yale University pay their share in taxes and respect essential workers with the wages, benefits and safety protections that they deserve, including health care and a path to citizenship for essential immigrant workers.

For a week leading up to May Day and then to Wednesday May 5 actions by health care workers, educators, immigrant rights groups, and Yale workers in a contract fight drew thousands of people into the streets for rallies, die-ins and car caravans.

The events culminated on May 5 at 5 pm with an 800 car caravan and hundreds of people on foot shutting down traffic in downtown New Haven with their message that Yale must respect New Haven, calling for a fair recovery and union contracts that include job security. “We must demand that Yale respect it’s workers and invest in all of New Haven so that we can have prosperity and justice for all,” said one organizer.

The contract negotiations are underway with the 5,000 members of Local 34 and 35, service and maintenance and clerical and technical workers unions. There is anger at the fact that Yale University's endowment grew to $31 billion during the pandemic while working people were struggling. Despite its endowment, the University has not agreed to increase its contribution to the City of New Haven in lieu of taxes, and has not fulfilled its pledge to hire 500 workers from New Haven's Black and Latinx neighborhoods.

The rally was joined by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and members of the state legislature and Board of Alders.

Thousands of nursing home workers are also in contract negotiations across the state, and nursing homes have been informed by healthcare workers union 1199 that they may strike. On May 1 a rally of 500 at the Governor's Mansion stood in solidarity with them and called on the Governor to increase revenues in the state by raising taxes on the wealthiest who pay a lower percentage in overall taxes than everyone else.

Calling the Governor's proposed budget a “status quo approach,” the Recovery for All coalition is demanding the Governor support the revenue package that passed the legislature's finance committee which includes “bold measures that would provide immediate relief to struggling families and produce fair and stable revenue streams to fund essential services, close opportunity gaps and create equity.”

The next big action will be held on Monday, May 17 at 5 pm with a march from Bushnell Park to the state capitol steps for a large rally.

Bringing all these struggles together, was a powerful virtual rally on May 2 hosted by CT People's World. Essential healthcare workers from the UCONN Health Center and 1199, immigrant workers fighting for Husky for Immigrants, and Yale workers shared their stories and stood in solidarity and unity. A slide show “May Day Around the World” presented the similar struggles of essential workers, standing up to corporate greed and racism for safety and health protections and working conditions, in this country and capitalist countries around the globe.

Here is the recording of the entire rally: https://youtu.be/EBCq0xy1HXE

Street heat in Connecticut reflects demands for a shift in priorities that is sweeping the nation.