CT Tenants Union Grows During Housing Crisis

The housing crisis is one of the big issues in the upcoming elections as more and more families can't afford their rent and receive low pay while corporations thrive.

Across Connecticut tenants are gaining their voice and power through collective action as part of the growing Connecticut Tenants Union, forming organization to bargain with landlords.

Most recently, tenants at Old Post Village in Tolland held a press conference announcing their tenants union which seeks to resolve long-standing issues with negligence and disrespect towards tenants, to re-build eroded trust, and to win a seat at the table in deciding the future of their homes and community.

They are the third affiliate chapter of the CT Tenants Union to form in the past month.

Old Post Village is a senior living community owned by the Tolland Housing Authority and managed by an affiliate of New Samaritan Corporation. The tenants have experienced mold, burst pipes and flooding and absentee management. Tenants have not seen any renovations despite the fact that the town received a $2 million grant last year for infrastructure upgrades to this complex.

In Stamford, tenants in Friendship House, a 122-unit housing complex owned by New Neighborhoods, formed their union in September with the support of allies and elected officials as they battle recurring mold outbreaks, sewage leaks, a defunct laundry room and retaliation after contacting the Stamford Health Department on these concerns. They have now won a negotiating meeting with management in October.

In Meriden in September, residents at the 221 unit Community Towers announced their union alongside allies from SEIU 1199, the NAACP and lawmakers. It is the 28th chapter, and one of the largest statewide. Residents have dealt with unsecured doors, at least one building fire without emergency exit plans, mold issues, and a broken HVAC system that expels fiberglass.

Following the launch, a delegation of Community Towers residents delivered a petition to collectively bargain to City Hall. As a result, a meeting with Community Towers union and the Meriden Housing Authority board is now set for October.

The housing crisis is one of the big issues in the upcoming elections as more and more families can't afford their rent and receive low pay while corporations thrive.

Across Connecticut tenants are gaining their voice and power through collective action as part of the growing Connecticut Tenants Union, forming organization to bargain with landlords.

Most recently, tenants at Old Post Village in Tolland held a press conference announcing their tenants union which seeks to resolve long-standing issues with negligence and disrespect towards tenants, to re-build eroded trust, and to win a seat at the table in deciding the future of their homes and community.

They are the third affiliate chapter of the CT Tenants Union to form in the past month.

Old Post Village is a senior living community owned by the Tolland Housing Authority and managed by an affiliate of New Samaritan Corporation. The tenants have experienced mold, burst pipes and flooding and absentee management. Tenants have not seen any renovations despite the fact that the town received a $2 million grant last year for infrastructure upgrades to this complex.

In Stamford, tenants in Friendship House, a 122-unit housing complex owned by New Neighborhoods, formed their union in September with the support of allies and elected officials as they battle recurring mold outbreaks, sewage leaks, a defunct laundry room and retaliation after contacting the Stamford Health Department on these concerns. They have now won a negotiating meeting with management in October.

In Meriden in September, residents at the 221 unit Community Towers announced their union alongside allies from SEIU 1199, the NAACP and lawmakers. It is the 28th chapter, and one of the largest statewide. Residents have dealt with unsecured doors, at least one building fire without emergency exit plans, mold issues, and a broken HVAC system that expels fiberglass.

Following the launch, a delegation of Community Towers residents delivered a petition to collectively bargain to City Hall. As a result, a meeting with Community Towers union and the Meriden Housing Authority board is now set for October.

Coalition Says “Hands Off Connecticut”

Hands Off CT, a growing collective of organizations, churches, unions, and activists is committed to protecting our immigrant neighbors from ICE enforcement — building independent community defense networks in every city and town is stepping up their organizing to make Connecticut safe for everyone who lives here..

The coalition reports that 632,000 Immigrants live in Connecticut — 17% of the state, with 198,000 estimated undocumented residents statewide and 9,000 Temporary Protected Status holders in Connecticut.

The coalition is calling for those concerned with the rise in ICE abductions and violence to write to their state and city representatives. Their sample letter reads in part:

“Connecticut must not be complicit in the federal government's abusive immigration enforcement tactics or its creeping authoritarianism. Connecticut is not immune to ICE’s violence. We call on Connecticut’s elected officials — from the governor to mayors to the General Assembly — to take every possible action to protect our communities and resist federal overreach.

“Governor Lamont: Create a $10 million emergency fund for legal defense and family stability to ensure that people fighting deportation can access legal representation and that families facing the detention of a loved one can get immediate financial assistance for basic needs like food, housing, childcare, and transportation.

“Attorney General Tong: Create a portal through the Attorney General's office to collect reports of excessive use of force and discrimination by ICE agents and federal law enforcement, and file lawsuits against the federal government.

“To all State Leaders: Ensure our laws are enforced. Open an investigation into TRUST Act compliance and create an independent body with real authority to audit and enforce our laws, and close the records loophole ICE is using.”

Hands off CT says they are “committed to building independent and democratic community defense networks in every city, town, and neighborhood in our state. We say NO to mass deportations. NO to militarized raids. NO to fear. YES to dignity, safety, and sanctuary. Connecticut must be a safe and welcoming place for all of us, regardless of immigration status.”

Raise your voice about climate change

by John Harrity

If you watched the news over the last days of August, you saw video of an almost inconceivable wave of destruction in Nepal.  Untold numbers of people and both the infrastructure and cultural heritage of this ancient region were swept away.  Glaciers in the mountains above a populated valley were weakened by rising global temperatures and came cascading down in a deadly tsunami.

It may have seemed a world away, but the reality is you and I caused that disaster as surely as if we had pushed a big red button that released the deluge.  You may roll your eyes but it is literally true.  Why?  How?  

We have failed over many years to take any significant action on climate change. Meanwhile we consistently produce the most carbon emissions of any country on earth — emissions that are causing the globe to get hotter. 

Nepal may seem too far away.  Put it aside for the moment.  What about the weather forecasts seemingly day after day for the past several months putting literally millions of Americans on alert for extreme weather.  

Record-breaking weather of every description.  Snowfall measured in feet instead of inches.  Rainfall amounts considered once in a thousand years occurring annually.  Los Angeles burning down!  There is no need to list them.

The majority of Americans now recognize that this extreme weather is the result of human-generated climate change. It’s also clear that at a time when “affordability” squeezes every household, climate degradation is getting costly.  Maybe it’s just the added cost of running the AC more or having to crank the furnace higher.   Millions of Americans have endured moderate to severe storm damage.  The cost of repairs comes either from your own wallet, insurance companies, or some level of government.

 Inevitably we will all bear increased costs due to these continuing catastrophes. Considering all this, why is virtually no one in political leadership or mainstream journalism talking about it!  Why?  You know what?  It does not matter.  As of today — right now — you and I have to start hollering.  Imagine if your kids were in a locked car that rolled into the river - that is how loud, and frantically, and

persistently we have to yell.  Yell!

Do not grasp for a complacency based on today’s already eroded standards, thinking we can adjust to this “new normal.”  Because this is all only going to get worse.  And all the data indicates that the rate of decline is quickening.   First target of our new-found rage: No candidate for office, either challenger or incumbent, should get our support unless they are committed to a strong position of climate safety action.

YOUR commitment in the elections is to make sure to vote! And get everybody you know out voting too, to make sure climate champions are elected.

Complain to the media about their pathetic coverage of the most important story, maybe, in human history. How can they report the weather forecast every 10 minutes but fail to provide any analysis about how rapidly weather is becoming more severe, why that is happening and what the future holds unless we eliminate carbon emissions?

Get on your marching shoes. We need to be gathering in large numbers to protest this lack of action by those who control the levers of power in this society. In government, that means both the federal and state leadership. Those culpable include the executive and legislative branches of government for

generally gutless lack of action across the board. True, more is happening on the state level than nationally, but nearly enough.

The prime target of our ire ought to be the private sector, which continues to engorge itself at the profit smorgasbord while they kill the earth. They have so far successfully lulled most of the population into somnambulant acquiescence to their path of destruction. But no more. For God;s sake, no more.

At this moment, within the aura of Labor Day, Unions must take up the call: “Workers DEMAND a safe planet!” If unions’ primary role is to safeguard the rights of working people and ensure they enjoy a decent, stable quality of life, what could be more important, more urgent, than fighting to maintain/ restore our climate? If the members do not understand it, teach them.

DO NOT Continue to be complacent. Do not surrender the future of your children and their children. Complain. Confront. Holler, Yell. Vote, vote vote! Raise hell! DEMAND a safe planet.

John Harrity is the former president of the Connecticut State Council of Machinists. He lives in East Hartland.

Educators Enlist City Officials for Safe and Healthy Schools

New Haven Aldermanic Chambers was packed with teachers, students, staff and parents for a special public hearing of the Board of Alders Education Committee about overwhelming facilities problems in the schools.

New Haven Federation of Teachers president Leslie Blatteau presented a slide show deliniating extreme temperatures, water damage, mold, rodents and persistent odors due to malfunctioning air-conditioning and heating systems and active roof leaks.

“Public schools are the bedrock of democracy,” she said. “Both are under attack. We must not let the problems lead to privatization. We are here to call for solutions to the continued pattern of neglect.”

Blatteau itemized steps the teachers union has taken in search of solutions including using the grievance procedure, state air quality requirements, and enforcement of OSHA standards.

These “alarming” conditions impact morale and health she said, calling on the Alders to help find solutions to the unsafe working and learning conditions. “We have to all go to the state together for more resources to fund capital improvements,” she urged.

Thanking Blatteau, the Alders asked all teachers to stand, and then all students and staff, to warm applause.

For several hours a parade of students, teachers and parents came forward to testify about the state of their classrooms and schools. Testimonies backed up with photos delineated dirty, unsafe bathrooms, rooms with no locks on the doors, rooms with no ceiling tiles and buckets to catch water, rooms with 80 to 90 degree temperatures, and constantly returing mold poisoning the air.

As each student was called to speak, all students stood in witness as the testimonies were greeted with cheers

“Temporary repairs can't be long term solutions,” said student leader Brandon Dailey calling for safety and basic dignity. “Education is a pathway, schools should reflect that,” he said.

Several speakers emphasized the unjust racial and economic disparities in the richest state calling for state budgets that prioritize public education, and for Yale to pay a much larger contribution to the City of New Haven to make up for its tax exempt status.

Solidarity: Lessons for Today from Unite Here Local 34 Founding Strike

Solidarity was the message at the New Haven Peoples Center during a film showing and conversation with UNITE HERE Yale union members about the 1984 strike that won Local 34's first contract. Interest was high to learn from the unions' past struggles and victories as sharp battles unfold in current contract negotiations with Local 34 clerical and technical and Local 33 post-doctoral workers.

The film had been produced on the 30^th anniversary of the strike with photos by Joe Taylor and script by Art Perlo who narrated along with Pamela Mouzon.

The crowd was welcomed to the event by retiree Mary Thigpen and welcomed to the Peoples Center by Local 34 member Ben McManus. Pamela Mouzon announced the upcoming Local 34 membership meeting and march to be held on October 14, organized as a show of unity to send a message to Yale University trustees that “We Can't Keep Up.”

The film detailed the daily experience on the picket line as the University refused to recognize the clerical and technical workers union in 1984. Included were the remarkable organizing, the big civil disobelience actions, the return to work for the holidays, and the solid support from already established Local 35 service and maintenance workers leading to the historic victory. Prolonged applause followed the film.

“Solidarity led to victory,” said Ken Suzuki who has 44 years seniority at the University. “The brave women of Local 34, the support of Local 35 who struck with us and raised dues two times to fund us, Local 217 assigning seven organizers for a four year drive, and today, Local 33 graduate teachers” he said recalling that “when Local 34 struck for pensions in 2003 the graduate teachers, then called GESO, went on strike with us.”

Suzuki recalled how Art Perlo, although classified as an M&P “organized like a member and went on strike with us as a member. People made important decisions what to do to change their lives and the lives of others. We couldn't do it by ourselves.”

Today, the University is playing hard ball at the negotiating table, threatening takeaways, using the anti-union practices of Amazon as an example, and crying poor despite their $42 billion endowrment.

Local 34 president Lisa Stevens said the difficult contract struggle requires more member involvement with new challenges of AI and members working as home since COVID.

“We have to build organization as was done in 1984,” said Local 34 staff director Barbara Vereen. “Rebuilding relationships will get people out. Join the committee and bring people with you. This fight will be won in the streets.“

Renee Deminne, speaking as a new member of Local 34 said, “New workers have to think about what they want their career at Yale to look like, with the benefits that have been hard won, or losing those.”

Cheryl Bergman, secretary-treasurer of Yale Union Retirees Association and an original organizer of Local 34 emphasized that without the pensions won over two strikes, the lives of her family and other retirees would not be what they are today.

Amelia Protano, credited with leading the pension fight, agreed saying she would not be able to stay in her home without the pension.

Also on the discussion panel were Local 33 leaders Paul Seltzer and Greg Zillberg. Seltzer said that in 2023 he got a 20% wage increase in Local 33's first contract for graduate workers. Now a new father he said, “That enabled us to start a family.” Zillberg said post doctural workers now negotiating their first contract are drawing on those experiences. Their organizing victory this year brought the number of unionized workers at Yale University to 10,000.

The Yale Strike film was introduced by Lisa Armstrong, teacher of gender studies at Smith College, who emphasized the far reaching impact of the strike, inspiring clerical workers at Columbia and Harvard to organize.

“We are here to celebrate this momentous achievement because it is still an ongoing fight to retain the dignity, respect, wages, pensions, workplace safety and voice of Local 34 union members.,” she said.

“The effects of this union struggle were instantaneous among workers who were considered difficult to unionize: in part because of the assessment that the largely women workforce does not want a union. How wrong this is,” she said.

“The unity between the established maintenance workers union, Local 35 and what became Local 34 is legendary. The solidarity led by a largely African American and Latino workforce of Local 35 for Local 34 every step of the way proved how workers can win union representation.”

The Peoples Center was decorated with poster-sized strike photos by Joe Taylor shown in the film. One featured civil rights icons Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Bayard Rustin who participated in a civil disobedience with the strikers, calling on Yale to recognize the union.