Fair Rent Commissions become the Law as Evictions Rise

The housing crisis for Connecticut's families has escalated as COVID-19 relief programs run out and mega landlords grab more properties and raise rents for higher profits.

In March 2022, landlords filed 2,495 new eviction cases, the highest number filed in any month since the Judicial Branch began keeping records in 2017, according to the Connecticut Fair Housing Center.

Over the last three years, Connecticut has seen wild rent increases – regular people are struggling to get by and evictions are on the rise. Landlords want 12.9% more in New London County. In the city of New London, 60% of households are renters. In other Connecticut counties, the story is the same – landlords want anywhere between 8.2% more in Windham and 13% more in Middlesex.

To address soaring rents that are pushing families out of their homes, a new law in Connecticut requires towns with more than 25,000 people to have Fair Rent Commissions where renters can challenge a rent increase and demand landlords treat them fairly. By July 1, 2023, the number of Fair Rent Commissions will automatically expand to cover large cities and towns in eastern Connecticut like New London, Norwich, and Mansfield.

Fair Rent Commissions give people the power to challenge their landlords and demand fair rent and the elimination of excessive rent charges. This means, for the first time ever, people facing rent increases in many communities will be able to hold their landlords to account in public.

As municipalities begin the process of setting up Fair Rent Commissions it is important for renters to take part in the process, to make sure renters – and not just landlords – are represented on the Commission. Those affected should be the ones conducting hearings to determine what is or is not fair for their community.

Individuals can ask their municipal government if they have a Fair Rent Commission and if not help set one up.

Another protection for renters that became law last year is the right to counsel in housing court. In some towns renters are organizing tenant unions for a stronger voice for repairs and security.

Connecticut to Join Poor Peoples March on Washington in June

Preparations are underway in Connecticut to join thousands of people from across the country at the June 18,2022 Mass Poor Peoples and Low-Wage Workers' Assembly “March on Washington DC and to the Polls,” led by Rev. Dr. William Barber.

“There are 140 million poor and low-income people in this country,” says Barber. “If we unite together, we have the power to overturn the interlocking injustices that keep us all struggling,”

including systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy, and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism.

The New Haven Peoples Center is organizing a charter bus to attend the march in the nation's capitol. Participants will represent the struggles unfolding in Connecticut since the pandemic demanding racial and economic equality and the rights of essential workers and all workers.

“There are abundant resources to meet our needs, and we march to summon the political will to do so,” says the call to the march referring to rising billionaire wealth and the bloated military budget.

In this session of the Connecticut General Assembly, the Recovery for All coalition and many unions and community and faith groups organized for pandemic pay, work scheduling and other measures to improve conditions for low wage workers. This week a bill prohibiting employers from requiring attendance at anti-union “captive audience” meetings was signed into law, making it easier for workers who want union representation to organize..

The march on Washington will launch a mass mobilization to register voters and get out the vote this year in response to increased voter suppression efforts across the country.

Organizational partners for the march include over 200 union, faith, peace and environmental justice groups.

March organizers say that the assembly “will be a generationally transformative declaration of the power of poor and low-wealth people and our moral allies to say that this system is killing ALL of us and we can’t…we won’t…WE REFUSE TO BE SILENT ANYMORE.”

The Peoples Center has issued an invitation to young people and everyone to participate in what promises to be an inspiring and historic experience that will boost ongoing organizing in Connecticut. 

Bus reservations can be made by filling out this electronic form:  https://forms.gle/ZVuHK5fjWSb3KHFG8 or leaving a phone message at 203-624-8664.

Workers Demand Union Rights and Respect Across Connecticut

Across Connecticut workers in health care, hospitality, education and manufacturing are demanding living wages, benefits and respect. This roundup of actions on or around May Day shows that when working people stand up and fight together they can win together even in the face of extremist corporate opposition.

Caregivers On Strike

Caregivers at Windsor Health and Rehab Center are in their third week of strike. They are among the lowest paid in the industry with no affordable health insurance. SEIU District 1199 NE filed unfair labor practice charges for hiring unlicensed staff and making them work for two to three weeks without wages. Union nursing home workers have settled over 60 contracts in Connecticut. Now it's time for Windsor Health and Rehab Center to present contract language that truly values the Black, Latina, white, and API men and women who work on the front lines of long-term care.

Greaduate Teachers Organize

A majority of graduate student teachers across all departments at Yale University signed petitions seeking union recognition with Local 33 Unite Here. The petitions were submitted during a spirited march and rally that filled the streets including labor and community allies. Yale administration's claim that graduate teachers are not workers is exposed by the fact that graduate workers across the country are standing up and unionizing for better wages, improved healthcare and benefits, stronger grievance procedures and respect and resources.

Graduate Hotel New Haven Workers Organize

Workers at the Graduate Hotel New Haven held a rally to announce their campaign to win a union for fair schedules, fair wages, and RESPECT. New Haven Mayor Elicker, Board of Alders president Tyisha Walker Myers with 12 Alders and labor and community supporters demanded Graduate Hotels follow the law and allow workers to go through the unionization process without intimidation or interference.

Starbucks Workers Organize

Corbin’s Corner Starbucks staff in West Hartford are the first Starbucks workers in Connecticut to file for a union election. The 22 workers are all part time. Union co-leader Travis Glenney said, "Covid put a lot of things into perspective for us. We felt like we weren't getting enough support from the company. The benefits and pay rate have not kept up with the rest of the retail sector." No election date has been set, but thre is a lot of community support. AFSCME Council 4 and Connecticut AFL-CIO officers visited the staff to show solidarity.

Machinists Organize

ICYMI, workers at FuelCell Energy in Danbury voted #UnionYES! Justin Mates, a system operator at the company, said the vote to join the Machinists Union means “the voice of the dedicated workers, who showed up every day during COVID, was heard today.”

Machinists Ratify Union Contract

3,000 members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) District 26, Local 700 in Middletown and Local 1746 in East Hartford, voted to ratify a new three year contract, that includes many gains, with Pratt & Whitney, a Raytheon Technologies Company “Our membership was adamant that job security was their top priority,” said IAM Aerospace General Vice President Mark Blondin. “The negotiation team from both locals worked together to secure job security language and other improvements for their members – this is the power of a well-informed committee and membership.”

Connecticut Expands Abortion Rights and Protections

From Stamford to Hartford and across the country, protest rallies erupted upon hearing that the US Supreme Court, with three Trump appointees, has drafted an opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 50 year constitutional guarantee for women's reproductive rights and health. Connecticut codified Roe v. Wade into state law in 1990. \

At a protest in Norwalk, Edson Rivas executive director of the Triangle Community Center, which serves the LGBTQ community. said not only abortion rights, but also other rights could be at risk,

Seventeen Governors including Ned Lamont issued a letter to Congress calling for immediate passage by the Senate of S 1975, the Women's Health Protection Act of 2021. to protect women's reproductive rights and access to abortion. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Blumenthal with Sen Murphy co-sponsoring. A strong companion bill was passed in the House last year with support of all five Connecticut representatives.

Lamont reaffirmed that he will sign into law a first-in-the-nation bill approved by the Connecticut Legislature in April to protect medical providers and patients seeking abortion care in Connecticut who may be traveling from other states that have outlawed abortion. The bill also expands the type of practitioners eligible to perform certain abortion-related care.

“I am proud to stand up for access to reproductive healthcare and reproductive freedom. As long as I am governor of this great state, we’ll never waiver on the right to choose, and the belief that medical decisions should be made between a patient and their doctor,” said Lamont.

The issue of racial disparities in abortions, not addressed in the legislation, came up for debate in the legislative session. Low income Black, Brown and white women already lack access to quality health care disproportionately..

The right-wing, anti-abortion Family Institute of Connecticut is already using this issue to attempt to drive a wedge among Democrats in November's elections.

Speaking at a press conference at the State Capitol, Claudine Constant, Connecticut ACLU policy and advocacy director, issued a call to organizers and advocates to “Show up. Don't stop yelling.”