People's World Amistad Awards: “Making Good Trouble”

“MAKING GOOD TROUBLE Together We Rise for a Hopeful Future” is the theme of this year's People's World Amistad Awards to be held Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 4:00 pm as a virtual program.

Recipients State Sen Julie Kushner, Pastor Rodney Wade and Azucena Santiato are all in the forefront of fighting for the rights of essential workers and all workers irregardless of immigration status during the COVID pandemic.

They represent the kind of unity, solidarity and vision needed to build the movement that can transform our country to put people, peace and planet before profits:

A special “IN SOLIDARITY” segment will celebrate the historic contract fight of Unite Here unions at Yale, and the ongoing AFT/community struggle to keep maternity services at Windham hospital.

The annual Awards are hosted by CT People's World on the occasion of the 102^nd anniversary of the Communist Party USA. Spanish language interpretation will be available.

A keepsake program book will be mailed to everyone who registers. The deadline for submissions to the program book is November 20, 2021.

State Sen Julie Kushner, Senate Chair of the Labor and Public Employees Committee, is a lifelong organizer and coalition builder for worker rights, as the first woman director of UAW Region 9-A, and an outstanding legislative champion winning paid family and medical leave, raising the minimum wage, climate and jobs legislation, COVID recall rights, and racial and gender equity.

Pastor Rodney Wade, Senior Pastor of Long Hill Bible Church in Waterbury, is a tireless and fearless leader for equity and justice, as a faith leader of the state-wide Recovery for All coalition of labor, community and faith based organizations united to eliminate systemic inequalities. and with Naugatuck Valley Project and other groups providing hope and inspiration to the community.

Azucena Santiago, is a courageous leader with 32BJ SEIU in the fight for union rights and health protections for Service Plaza workers. When McDonald's reduced her hours after she began organizing her co-workers, Azucena filed a complaint with the NLRB and won back pay. She has testified before the State Legislature, led marches and rallies, and is the mother of two.

To register for the zoom event or place a greeting in the adbook, e-mail: ct-pww@pobox.com. Or visit the event homepage at https://actionnetwork.org/ticketed_events/making-good-trouble-together-we-rise-for-a-hopeful-future/

 

Naugatuck Elections Break Barriers

 

For the first time, people of color are on the ballot for the Board of Mayor and Burgess in Naugatuck. This diversity is no accident.

Let’s back up a bit.

The January 6^th attempt by the extreme right at overthrowing the people’s 2020 vote was thwarted. The Biden/Harris election to President and vice-president respectfully was confirmed. It was costly in lives and trauma to the body politic. The struggle now turns to the local level and elections.

In Naugatuck, the political dam was breached by the eleven hundred strong George Floyd march from the green to the police station in June of 2020. Riding, in part, the Nov. Biden/Harris election and with strong union support, organizer George Cabrera (D) ousted George Logan (R) for a State Senate seat. The latter opposed the Police Accountability Act, passed eventually by the State Assembly in Hartford.

Naugatuck youth continued the momentum forward. In the winter of this year, they walked out of the high school. This was in protest to the racist remarks by the police chief’s daughter. The local high school Sunrise Hub environmental group continued the struggle. They joined in coalition with a new environmental group, Friends of Fulling Mill Brook, to protect this vital stream leading to the Naugatuck River.

As is often the case, danger and opportunity appear in the same arena.

Following Steve Bannon’s dictum to take over school boards, two extreme right candidates have their hats in the ring. One refused to wear a mask at a youth sponsored event and had to be removed from the scene. Another declared equity should not be a school board goal. There are being met by a strong, diverse pro-education slate.

Among Burgess candidates, one Republican was at the Jan.6^th rally and march on the Capital. Fortunately, a diverse, strong field of forward-looking candidates, led by Shagufta Zahid, are taking on the challenges. Ms Zahid, with five years of experience on Naugatuck’s conservation commission and program director of the strong Gunntown environmental group, is leading the charge. She is the only candidate putting forward a proposal for a town climate / refugee committee, and doing voter education to make it happen.

The lesson is clear on the local level. Stay woke! Stay active!

Caregivers at Sunrise Strike for Decent Pay

Group home caregivers on the picket line in Hartford were in good spirits as the first day of their strike for livable wages and benefits came to a close. A constant drumbeat helped to keep spirits up as community members from across the city came by to join the picket line in solidarity and join in on chants of “The union is hot,hot,hot. The boss is not,not,not.” and “Fair contract now.”

Over 100 1199 members at Sunrise inc. were on strike as of 6am on Tuesday October, 12 at locations across the state. Despite workers winning over $184 million dollars in additional state funding for private sector group home agencies; Sunrise has refused to agree to a contract that would provide livable wages, affordable healthcare and a pension for its workers.

1199 members at Sunrise are predominantly Black, Latina and working-class white women who are fighting to settle a contract that is inline with their Union sisters and brothers who have already settled contracts that include increase to their wages up to 20% for those with the lowest rates of pay as well as 90% reductions in health insurance premiums in some instance.

Sunrise continues to hold its workers back by paying many of them less than $17 an hour, providing no retirement benefits and saddling them with $6,000 monthly premiums for family health insurance plans. All of this happens while the CEO continues to make $3250,000 a year.

“I’m tired. I’m drained. I’ve been at Sunrise for 24 years. It’s time that they do the right thing. No one at our agency takes insurance because it is not affordable. We haven’t had a pay raise in 15 years,” said direct support professional Jennifer Brown.

“Most of these workers are making less than $17 an hour. They have to pay $6,000 in monthly premiums for family health insurance coverage at Sunrise, and no retirement pension to look forward to in their elder years,” said Rob Baril, president of District 1199NE. “Even after workers were able to leverage more than $184 million in additional state funding from Governor Ned Lamont’s administration, Sunrise continues to deny a fair contract for its own workers while the CEO rakes in $325,000 per year.”

Workers File Lawsuit for Violation of ‘Right to Recall’ Law

The first lawsuit for a violation of Connecticut’s new “Right to Recall” law that protects seniority for service workers was announced on the steps of State Superior Court by a group of Connecticut service plaza workers and their supporters.

“I worked at the McDonald’s at the Darien Northbound rest stop for 26 years,” said Mario Franco, one of three plaintiffs in this first-ever lawsuit. “I was laid off with the entire night shift when the pandemic hit, but they did not rehire a group of us, choosing new workers instead.”

“Some of us also took our case to the National Labor Relations Board, but none of us deserves this kind of treatment. We are all good workers. Michell’s McDonalds is treating us like we are nothing. We deserve our jobs back,” Franco declared.

Introduced by the Labor Committee and passed by the state legislature in July, the “Requiring Employers to Recall Certain Laid-Off Workers in Order of Seniority Act” was signed into law in July,

The law protects service employees, in majority Black, Latino and women, who were laid off during the pandemic, from losing their jobs to new hires.

Connecticut is a national leader to protect workers seniority during the worst global health emergency in a century. California, Nevada, and cities including New Haven enacted similar laws.

Speakers included Labor Committee co-chairs Senator Julie Kushner and Representative Robyn Porter, who led the fight for passage of the bill; Unite Here Local 217 Secretary-Treasurer Josh Stanley, which represents hotel and food service workers, and 32BJ SEIU Vice President Rochelle Palache, who leads the organizing of Connecticut interstate service plaza workers for fair pay, benefits, and the right to join a union.

“It’s simply disgusting that Mitchell’s McDonald’s and other service plaza employers are using the cover of Covid to abuse workers like Mario,” Palache said.

“This first lawsuit covers the three most senior workers who were never recalled after the massive layoffs early in the pandemic, while the company made new hires. But bad bosses everywhere are being put on notice to recall their workers in this pandemic. This lawsuit will remind them that their actions aren’t just immoral, they’re now also illegal,”emphasized Palache.