Tell Gov Lamont: Support Relief Fund for Striking Workers

 

When Gov. Ned Lamont threatened to veto aid for striking workers last week, the question became: which side are you on?

Corporations have a lot tactics to keep workers divided and profits up. When workers stick together and win the right to a union, they can improve wages and benefits and working conditions at contract time.

One corporate tactic to destroy unions and keep extracting maximum profits from workers' labor is to refuse to bargain in good faith and force workers out on strike for their jobs and their livelihood.

In this legislative session the Connecticut AFL CIO top priority was relief benefits for workers forced to strike, like in New York and New Jersey. It would pressure corporations to bargain in good faith, and if they don't, it would provide relief for courageous workers.

At the end of the day the Connecticut General Assembly took a major step toward leveling the playing field for working people by establishing a $3 million relief fund to support workers who have no choice but to go on strike.

“It will allow workers to exercise their right to strike without simultaneously facing foreclosures, evictions and repossessions,” said Ed Hawthorne president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, calling the bill “a vital step towards safeguarding the rights of workers who courageously stand up for better working conditions, fair wages, and dignified treatment in the workplace.”

Gov Ned Lamont is threatening to veto the bill and stand on the side of corporate giants like RTX, the biggest opponent of the bill. RTX (merged Raytheon and United Technologies) parent company of Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace claims workers are happy because they have not gone out on strike in recent years. They claim that strike relief would “render the business uncompetitive.”

“In an environment where bargaining power is tilted so far towards employers, the idea that the state is “putting its thumb on the scale of the side of labor” is just not accurate,” says Rob Baril, President of SEIU District 1199NE. “The truth is, the scales have been heavily skewed in favor of corporations for a long time.”

Supporters of the strike relief fund are urged to contact Gov Lamont and let him know it is time to stand with working people, not corporate CEO's!