Food Service Workers Demand Livable Wages

 

On Labor Day week, food service workers at Connecticut's public colleges picketed on Central Connecticut State University’s campus in New Britain demanding a new union contract that provides a living wage and a 40 hour work week.

UNITE HERE Local 217 cafeteria workers at Central, Southern, and Western CT State Universities, employed by the $9 billion multinational food services company, Sodexo are struggling to make ends meet the rising costs of housing and other necessities. Accounting for inflation, they are far poorer now than in 2020.

Carly Ortiz, a food service worker at SCSU, said “I’m a mom of three and my youngest has special needs. My wages haven’t gone up fast enough to cover all the expenses..” She explained that “Every month I’m forced to choose: How much can I pay of my gas bill? How much can I afford to spend on groceries? I’m being forced to choose between necessities. When do I get to breathe?”

  

Many workers at CCSU, SCSU, and WCSU are forced to get second and third jobs, despite working full-time. In one of the nation’s wealthiest states, food service workers at public universities should be able to support their families with one full-time job.

With widespread public support, they stand together to demand a livable wage in their ongoing negotiations for a mew contract. The contracts between the union and Sodexo have expired at CCSU and SCSU. The contract between the union and Sodexo at WCSU expires on September1. 

  

“We have been negotiating for five months now. Our members just want to continue doing what they do with pride every day – feeding the students of Connecticut’s state universities – and get back on their feet with a 40-hour week that lets them pay all their bills and provide for their families,” said Josh Stanley, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 217. “But if it’s going to take a fight to get back to the 40-hour work week so people can live with dignity, we’re up for it. We’re used to fighting.”  

Trump “Stop Work” on CT Offshore Energy Project Condemned by Labor and Climate Groups

 

Immediately following a stop work order by the Trump administration halting construction of the Revolution Wind offshore energy project designed to power 350.000 homes in Connecticut and Rhode Island, demands to continue work came forward from the labor movement, Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs and elected officials. 

“We call on the Trump Administration to reverse this order immediately and let union workers finish the job of building America’s energy infrastructure,” said CT AFL CIO president Ed Hawthorne and Rhode Island AFL CIO president Patrick Crowley adding that “this project is 80% complete, has already created over 1,000 union jobs and 2 million hours of union work, and was fully permitted under federal and state law. Halting it now leaves hundrfeds of workers unemployed and thousands more at risk.”

They concluded that “This stoppage undermines energy security for New England families, raises energy prices, and denies economic opportunities for years to come.”

The Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs (CRCJ) also strongly condemned the order saying, “ The loss of the Revolution Wind project would be catastrophic for Connecticut, particularly for the workers who have been training for this industry and counting on the paychecks and job security Revolution Wind was supposed to provide.

“Revolution Wind created hundreds of union jobs for infrastructure improvements, and over 100 long-term jobs marshaling and assembling turbines at our very own New London State Pier. The project was on track to power 350,000 homes across Connecticut and Rhode Island, providing stable electricity prices locked in for 20 years, and securing New England’s energy future.

“Instead, this abrupt stop-work order threatens to derail years of progress, jeopardize billions in investment, and devastate working families across the region.”

They concluded, “We must not shy away from energy technologies of the future, but double down in our commitment to building them with a strong union workforce. Connecticut workers remain committed to building a resilient, pro-worker clean energy future, and in coastal states like ours, this must include offshore wind. Federal leaders should honor their commitments and allow this nearly finished project to deliver the clean energy and union jobs our region was promised.”

Opposition to ICE Raids Grows in Connecticut

 

Outrage at increasing ICE abductions at courthouses and work sites by masked, unidentified agents is bringing immigrant rights organizations together along with elected officials and other allies across the state, and a federal investigation launched by US Sen Richard Blumenthal.

In recent days groups of armed, masked agents have taken people outside the courthouses in Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford, and also at a carwash in Newington. Observers demanded to see a court ordered warrant, and asked for the identity of the agents, and to know where those kidnapped were being taken. No replies were given.

Immigrant rights groups in Danbury, Norwalk-Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Middletown and Hartford have been organizing support for affected families and have formed Rapid Response teams to let the community know if ICE is spotted in the area.

When Stamford Rep. Corey Paris posted a message for the community to “remain vigilant, stay aware of your surroundings and, above all, prioritize your safety.” and check on concerned neighbors, it was distorted by extremist right-wing groups who falsely claimed he was interfering with ICE and called for his arrest. Paris and his family have been harassed including death threats.

Lt Gov Bysiewicz, the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus of the State Legislature and other lawmakers convened a press conference to denounce the harassment, uphold the legitimacy of Paris' actions and to call on ICE to stop aiding and abetting extremist groups and threatening elected officials.”

A formal investigation into the enforcement tactics being employed by ICE has been launched by US Sen Richard Blumenthal, ranking member of the Congressional Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Committee. He is seeking documentation on methods that may result in “over-arrests, unjustified detention, excessive use of force and other potentially abusive tactics,” citing “flash bang grenades, physical violence, tasers, or simply the detention without formal arrest.”

He said the investigation comes following reports of ICE “exceeding its power, using unwarranted and excessive force, unidentified and unmarked agents wearing masks, seizing people who may be in this country, completely lawfully, doing nothing wrong, detaining them.”

“We need every politician, from local to national levels, to stand with immigrants,” Tabitha Sookdeo with CT Students for a Dream said. “This is a moment that demands moral courage, because every day that passes, more families are torn apart, and in Connecticut, we are feeling this deeply.”

“I do not regret choosing compassion, vigilance, and safety for all who call our community home,” said Rep Paris. “While I may carry the weight of criticism at this moment, our friends and neighbors who are immigrants carry the weight of being targeted, silenced, and made voiceless. They live with the constant fear that their families could be targeted, disrupted, or torn apart.”

SOLITUDE

 

by Jahmal Henderson

ln rooms of words, a silent pact I make, Turning pages for a future’s sake. The world outside, a muffled, distant sound, As wisdom’s seeds in solitude are found.

The sun dips low, and starlight takes its place, I walk alone, in time and open space. The old resistance, stubborn, strong, and slow, Fights every step, but cannot stop the grow.

With every line, I shed a past belief, Each starlit stride, a moment of relief. To learn, to know, to mend what was undone, A new self forged, beneath the moon and sun.

Park Ridge Tenants of Capital Realty Group Unionize

New Haven, CT — On August 6th, elderly tenants at the Park Ridge Apartments announced the formation of their tenant union, representing nearly 60% of residents in the 72-unit building, and affiliated with the Connecticut Tenants Union.

Their building is owned by the national corporate landlord, Capital Realty Group (CRG). Tenants described problems with plumbing, electrical work, boiler noises, heating, air conditioning and carpeting. They are the ninth tenants union to officially register with the City of New Haven Fair Rent Commission.

After their press conference, a delegation drove to CRG’s headquarters in Spring Valley, NY to deliver a letter requesting a meeting to collectively bargain and a response within one week. They were met with a sign saying the firm had moved, but the address was an empty office. Finally the tenants taped the letter on the door after being threatened by a tow truck.

At an August 14 press conference to update the public on the union’s efforts to bring their landlord to the negotiating table, Senator Richard Blumenthal called on Capital Realty Group to negotiate in good faith with the union, citing their misuse of federal funds

Capital Realty Group, described as a “leading private equity real estate group,” is a major player in the for-profit affordable housing industry. They benefit from hundreds of millions of dollars in federal mortgages and rent subsidies. They frequently employ a cash-out refinance strategy that depends on cutting expenses and increasing rents at their buildings—worsening living conditions while generating huge profits for themselves and their investors.

.Capital Realty Group has received $7.1 million in federally-backed financing for Park Ridge and also receives HUD-subsidized rent payments monthly for each occupied unit. 

Meanwhile, other tenants of Capital Realty Group are unionizing across state lines. The River Pointe Towers Tenant Union in Detroit, Michigan publicly announced their unionization on August 19th. CRG tenants in New Haven at Park Ridge are hosting a watch party of the media coverage from Detroit and will celebrate CRG tenant solidarity across state lines with a luncheon at their building.