Attorney General Sues Service Plaza Operator for $6.1 Million

Hundreds of workers, many Latino immigrants, have been wrongfully paid below the minimum wage for years by Project Services, state contractor for food service at highway rest stops.

if a lawsuit filed by Attorney General William Tong is upheld, these workers will receive back pay and damages of $6.1 million

“It’s certainly the largest amount we’ve sought in damages in my term in office,” said Tong. “These workers did their job, and they deserve to be paid their full compensation.”

Project Service subcontracts with the operators of fast food outlets like Dunkin, Subway, Chipotle, Panda Express, Taco Bell and McDonald’s.

State law guarantees the minimum wage to food service workers employed by state contractors. Until recently, few if any complied.

In 2018 workers began organizing with SEIU 32BJ They filed so many complaints the Department of Labor launched a major investigation.

In August 2020, George Michell’s McDonalds stores agreed to pay 264 workers nearly $900,000 in back pay, and over $35,000 in civil penalties for failing to pay the Standard Wage.

But an estimated 800 workers are still being underpaid at 23 other fast food outlets on I-95, I-15 and I-395.

“Project Service was put on notice years ago that their subcontractors were underpaying workers in violation of state law. They have continuously refused to make their workers whole despite repeated warnings and demands,” said Tong

“We are left with no choice but today’s legal action to compel Project Service to repay $2.7 million in unpaid back wages, as well as $2.7 million in additional penalties and damages to ensure this egregious wage theft never occurs again.”

Robert Thomas, a worker at Dunkin Donuts at the plaza on I-15 North Haven said, “To some people, the difference between $16 and at least $18.21 might not seem like a lot, but to me it would make a huge difference.”

“These workers struggle daily to make ends meet, while employers like the giant Applegreen Corporation, which runs every Dunkin on the plazas as well as Project Service itself, can well afford to do the right thing and pay workers fairly.,” said Rochelle Palache, head of 32BJ SEIU in Connecticut.

She said the union will continue to fight for the workers rights as the lawsuit works it's way through the courts.

Testimolny to Environment Committee Feb 27, 2023

 Chairman. Members of the Environmental Committee,

Len Yannielli

The Gunntown Environmental Group

Naugatuck

We are in support of HJ37, the CT Environmental Rights Amendment.

In the Late 1960s, I worked in Thomaston Ct. teaching 8th grade and high school science classes.

I had classes sample the Naugatuck River. There were no fish in the river at this Thomaston site. Why?

One night as I was driving over a bridge there, A vat opened from a factory and molten metals poured out and hit the Naugatuck River. A plume of vapors rose that looked like a scene from Dante’s Inferno. Mystery solved.

Pollution is ongoing.

There were three pollution events, from now smaller shops, into the Naugatuck River in 2018. This was at the junction of Waterbury and Naugatuck. Hundreds of fish died. Of course some pollutants would reach Long Island Sound.

There is a huge methane plant in Oxford, close to the Naugatuck border. We breathe in the 2.5 micron carbon particulates that are a product of burning fossil fuels. Also, methane gone astray from a web of pipelines enters the atmosphere aggravating climate change.

Carbon particulates are insidious as, unlike vats of molten metals, these air pollutants are invisible.

The closest housing development to this methane plant in Naugatuck is South Meadow Apartments. It is populated mainly by people of color. Thus the important environmental justice section of the Ct Environmental Rights Amendment.

On the solution side, brown fields up and down the Naugatuck Valley need remediation. It is very expensive. Money that our country is sending off to the Ukraine in a proxy war with Russia, is badly needed here.

HJ37 would allow us at the grassroots to take preventive steps concerning pollution and to hasten environmental solutions.

Thank You.

Len Yannielli

Community Outreach Director

The Gunntown Environmental Group

Report Explodes Myths about Taxing the Rich

“Millionaires Pay to Stay – The Millionaire Tax Migration Myth” is a blockbuster report issued by A Better Connecticut Institute. It is a truth-telling document that represents the interests of working class families in our state. It is a powerful breath of fresh air!

For decades Connecticut tax policy has been held hostage by the big lie that if billionaires are taxed their fair share they will flee our state and ruin our economy. Legislators and Governors, including Governor Lamont, have repeated this myth as proof that the rest of us should sacrifice basic needs and continue shouldering the billionaires' burden.

As a result, while most people in Connecticut pay about 25% of their income in taxes, the billionaires and multi-millionaires only pay 6% of their income in taxes, and everyone is left to compete for needed services.

That big lie is fostered by Yankee Institute, the right-wing corporate think tank that keeps their thumb on the scale, dominating legislators year after year and short-stopping popular measures to expand health care, housing, public education, child care, environmental protection, union rights and measures to overcome racial and economic inequality.

“Millionaires Pay to Stay” re-frames the debate with definitive data and a common sense message.

Thomas Cooke did the research. He is a well published specialist in causes and consequences of migration within the U.S.

Testifying before the legislature's Finance Committee in favor of HB 5673 which includes proposals to establish new income tax brackets and rates for incomes over $1 million, Cooke said that the myth about the wealthiest 1% leaving is based a a misuse of IRS migration data.

After detailed examination of the migration data, the effect of income taxes on migration of high earners, and reasons for moving to and from Connecticut, the report concludes “Research indicates that even moderately significant increases in the top marginal tax rates may only induce a few people with moderately-high incomes to leave and that the gain in tax revenue far outweighs the loss due to the migration of a few people.”

The progressive labor think tank A Better Connecticut Institute has done a great service to the well being of struggling families by exposing the big lie arguments used to maintain the status quo.

Seventy one percent of Connecticut residents support boosting income tax rates on those earning over a million dollars. There is no excuse!

Coalition Urges Environmental Rights in State Constitution

Connecticut legislators are considering an amendment to the state constitution that would ensure environmental rights are basic civil liberties.

The “Green Amendment” would give each state resident the legal right to healthy air, water and soil.

If it passes, the amendment would ensure that environmental rights are protected in every level of government decision-making emphasized Kim Stoner, coordinator of the Connecticut Environmental Rights Amendment Alliance,.

“If implemented effectively, the Connecticut Environmental Rights Amendment will increase the focus of the state and local governments on preventing pollution for all people, rather than just on permitting and managing pollution,” Stoner said.

Supporters also hope the proposal will push local and state leaders to better protect the environment and communities of color, which often disproportionately bear the health impacts of pollution.

“Not only for our sake, but for the sake of future generations, to give them a fighting chance so that they’re not spending the rest of their lives fighting for their lives,” said Kat Morris, founder of the environmental justice group Seaside Sounds. “I think this is one of those choices that could be pivotal in terms of addressing the climate crisis.”

Testifying before the Environment Committee in support of the measure, retired science teacher Len Yannielli of the Guntown Environmental Group said “HJ37 would allow us at the grassroots to take preventive steps concerning pollution and to hasten environmental solutions.”

“There is a huge methane plant in Oxford, close to the Naugatuck border,” he said. “We breathe in the 2.5 micron carbon particulates that are a product of burning fossil fuels. Also, methane gone astray from a web of pipelines enters the atmosphere aggravating climate change. Carbon particulates are insidious as, unlike vats of molten metals, these air pollutants are invisible.

“The closest housing development to this methane plant in Naugatuck is South Meadow Apartments. It is populated mainly by people of color. Thus the important environmental justice section of the Ct Environmental Rights Amendment.”

“On the solution side,” concluded Yannielli, “brown fields up and down the Naugatuck Valley need remediation. It is very expensive. Money that our country is sending off to the Ukraine in a proxy war with Russia, is badly needed here.”

Amending the state constitution requires approval from both lawmakers and state voters. The proposed amendment wouldn’t appear on the ballot until November 2024 at the earliest.

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International Women's Day: Expand Healthcare and Workers Rights

International Women's Day, March 8, is a day of struggle for dignity and respect for women and girls in the workplace and in the community.

A March 8 rally at the State Capitol celebrating International Women's Day called on the state of Connecticut to address the lack of mental health services for women and girls.

“Right now, the State of Connecticut is turning away women and girls from receiving life-changing and lifesaving services due to the staffing crisis,” said SEIU District 1199 NE.

Speakers urged elected officials to “Restore Lifesaving Services for Women and Girls” and called for solutions that will reopen programs cut back during the pandemic.

The Recovery for All coalition joined the rally,“The state legislature has an opportunity during this session to fund the services women and girls so desperately need,” they said.

“State run programs are a lifeline for women who can't afford to go to private rehab facilities. Cuts to staffing and closures of quality state run programs has meant that hundreds of women and girls are going without adequate care! Quality care for women and girls = Equity.”

The Recovery for All coalition was among many preparing to testify before the Labor Committee the following day in favor of a set of bills expanding workers' rights.

“Hundreds of thousands of working people are struggling to raise families, while a handful of wealthy corporations and wealthy residents are getting even wealthier,” they said.

“Adding insult to injury, working people are also contributing a greater share of their income for the services we all rely on which the wealthiest fail to pay what they owe to state and local governments'.

“This isn't an accident.” the coalition added. “Decades of bad policy choices have made Connecticut ground zero for the most extreme racial, economic and gender inequities in the country.”

Three bills to raise basic labor standards were highlighted by the Connecticut AFL-CIO, One Fair Wage, Working Families, CWEALF, and CT Voices to eliminate the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers, to ensure that all Connecticut workers have a stable work schedule they can rely on, and to expand paid sick days to all workers.

A fourth bill to provide standards to protect ride share and delivery drivers was also part of the agenda for workers' rights at the Labor Committee's public hearing..