Concord Hills Tenant Union Wins Temporary Housing Relocation

When tenants tragically lost their homes in a fire on August 10 at Concord Hills Apartments, 105-111 Sherbrooke Ave in Hartford, the city unfortunately relocated the families, including elders and children, to rundown mold and pest infested motel rooms with no cooking facilities. These unsafe conditions resulted in burglaries, hunger and health problems which sent two individuals to the emergency room.

 

The tenants responded to their crisis by organizing themselves into the Concord Hills Tenants Union, affiliated with the Connecticut Tenants Union, demanding their rights to decent temporary housing.

 

Forty-five days later the Tenants Union celebrated victory on the steps of City Hall after Mayor Arulampalam agreed to immediately relocate all tenants with children, disabilities, or health issues to better interim hotels, and in addition secured agreements with three management companies in Hartford to provide tenants with options for new apartments; and also secured an agreement from Greyhill Group, the owner of the Concord Hills Apartments, to return security deposits as legally required and to waive unpaid rent.

 

The victory followed two weeks of intensive actions including testimonies to the City Council, meeting with the Mayor,.circulating a community petition, sharing their stories with reporters,and mobilizing support from allied organizations. 

 

The night before, during a City Council meting, City Councilor Josh Michtom announced what the Mayor had finally agreed to. 

 

The displaced tenants had been subjected to intimidation by their management company, Greyhill Group, including threats of sending negative references to future landlords and demanding that tenants sign legal waivers in order to access their own belongings.

 

Mayor Arulampalam had initially declined to relocate the displaced tenants, as legally required by the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act (URAA). Following one protest the Mayor arranged for a “resource fair” intended to connect tenants to social workers and charitable organizations and to provide the moving assistance funds required by state law.

 

The URAA guarantees temporary housing and other rights to persons displaced by government action—including condemnation of apartments due to fire. The City of Hartford has been sued in the past over its failure to abide by the URAA on behalf of displaced tenants. 

 

The Concord Hills Tenants Union had the support of the Connecticut Tenants Union, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, and many community organizations who participated in the protests and collected signatures on a petition demanding immediate action.

Machinists Call for Just Transition on Climate Change

For years John Harrity, retired president of the Connecticut State Council of Machinists has persistently called upon his union to discuss how climate change issues affect them Last week at the 2024 IAM Grand Lodge Convention in New York City, Harrity and Zach Cunningham of the Cornell University Climate Jobs Institute gave panel presentations that led to passage of a ground breaking resolution.

Harrity, also president emeritus of the Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs, said “You have heard some about the dangers of climate, and the incredible opportunities it can also mean in terms of organizing workers in the emerging green technologies. This fight on climate change is literally about our collective survival – but it is also about our growth and renewal as a union if we are smart enough to seize the opportunities before us.”

After considering new findings, members passed a resolution to include the concept of “Just Transition” in action on climate change. This concept asserts that workers displaced from jobs by climate change should receive supplemental income, insurance, and pension benefits. 

It aims to address and correct the inequities faced by people of color who have been systematically excluded from jobs in the energy sector. Additionally, it seeks to support their communities, which have been disproportionately impacted by the presence of highly polluting power plants. The resolution also includes language to ensure that green technology used in America is made in America by IAM members.

Reporting on the groundbreaking convention results, the union said that “This commitment to ‘Just Transition’ underscores IAM’s dedication to social justice and equality in the face of climate change.” The report from the convention emphasized, “The IAM’s proactive stance on climate change is a testament to its commitment to not only preserving the planet but also securing a prosperous future for its members. By embracing innovative solutions and advocating for sustainable industrial practices, IAM is leading by example in the labor movement’s fight against climate change. This advocacy involves not only implementing green technologies within IAM-represented industries but also influencing and encouraging key players to adopt and advocate sustainable practices.”

The IAM represents 7,000 workers in Connecticut including machinists at Pratt & Whitney aerospace, and also school bus drivers and healthcare workers. The Connecticut State Council of Machinists was the first organization to affiliate with the Connecticut Roundtable on Climate and Jobs saying. “The most important thing which we can leave our children and grandchildren is a healthy and clean planet earth, and the Roundtable provides us that opportunity. This is the real “National Emergency” of our lifetime and will be a legacy which humanity will be measured on.”

Labor Walks Support Pro-worker Candidates

Union members in Connecticut and across the country are knocking on the doors of their co-workers to talk about how the 2024 high stakes elections will affect their lives. 

In the Fifth Congressional District union members are visiting co-workers with information about Congresswoman Jahana Hayes, a union member and teacher who is top target of the MAGA Republicans in their quest to keep control of the U.S. House. Hayes is known for her perfect voting record on behalf of retirees to protect and expand Social Security and her voting record in support of public education and workers' rights.

“I always vote for women in local races,” said one union member on her porch. “They understand.” But she was still deciding about President. A block away, a middle aged man whose family is in the union, eagerly filled out a voter registration card to vote for the first time. “I have to vote for Kamala,” he said commenting on how dangerous a Trump victory would be for the well-being of his family.

The AFL-CIO and most unions have endorsed Harris and Walz, who himself is a union member and a teacher., warning about the corporate Trump Project 2025 agenda which would decimate all rights won over generations including the right to vote, the right to a union, the right to abortion, health care, education and policies which would slow climate change.

In Meriden, the teachers' union hall was filled with public and private sector workers wearing blue “It's Better In A Union” t-shirts, cheering on pro-worker candidates for State Legislature. The weekly Labor Walks provide an opportunity for union members to canvass neighborhoods and have one-on-one conversations about the importance of the elections with other union members.

At the same time hotel workers, health care workers and others are standing up for their rights in contract negotiations across the state understanding that what can be won at the negotiating table can be taken away at the ballot box.

Community organizations are also mobilizing to get out the vote emphasizing that this election will determine if the country goes back to the jim crow era or if the country will move forward for the needs of all working class people. The elections will be determined by voter turnout. There is something everyone can do.

CT Workers Strike and Organize on Labor Day

 

133 Unite Here Local 217 members at the Hyatt Regency Greenwich were among the 10,000 hotel workers in 12 states who went on strike on Labor Day weekend after prolonged negotiations for living wages, pensions and healthcare.

Holding signs that said “Make Them Pay,” the striking housekeepers, cooks, servers, bartenders and bellmen were joined by a bus load of Unite Here members from Yale. “America thanks you,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. “You are striking for all workers.”

Each car that entered or exited was handed a flier urging patrons “do not meet, eat, or sleep at this hotel while workers are on strike.”

“I’m on strike because I need more wages, I need the health insurance, and I need less rooms because I work so hard and I come home exhausted at the end of the day but I still don’t make enough money to pay my bills,” said Rebeca Laroque, a room attendant for 12 years. “Going on strike is a huge sacrifice but I need a better life for me and my two kids.” 

The US hotel industry made over $100 billion in gross profit in 2022, and hotel executives at Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott made $596 million in total between 2020 and 2023.  Meanwhile, U.S. hotel staffing per occupied room was down 13% as many hotels nationwide have kept COVID-era service cuts in place,.

“Hotel workers are fighting for their economic lives,” said Josh Stanley, Secretary Treasurer Local 217 UNITE HERE. “The hotel industry is making massive profits, but wages just aren’t enough to support our families.” 

Two days earlier, several hundred union members gathered in Meriden at the Connecticut AFL-CIO Labor Breakfast to kick off their outreach to union members for the elections. Congresswoman Jahana Hayes told the workers she is fighting every day to hold the benefits won by the working class. “Raising wages, affordable housing and health care contribute to the economy,” said Hayes who has been targeted by the national Republican party in the Fifth Congressional District. “We are not going back,” she exclaimed to a standing ovation.

Also on the Labor Day weekend was a celebration of a new book about the People Before Profits campaigns of Joelle Fishman from 1974 to 1982 on the Communist Party ticket. The campaigns are credited with creating a more pro-worker political climate in the Third Congressional District. Participants at the book launch were urged to volunteer to get out a landslide vote for democracy over fascism in November's elections.