1199 SPECTRUM STRIKERS RALLY IN DERBY TODAY

[Photo Above: Spectrum 1199 strikers and their supports rallied today at the Birmingham Health Center in Durby Ct] Click on photo for full screen.

Spirits were high today at a rally of the Spectrum 1199 strikers and their supporters today.

400 nurses, aides and support staff at four nursing homes operated by Spectrum Healthcare have been on strike since April 15th over Unfair Labor Practices.

The company says that it has hired permanent replacements for the strikers who are standing up for themselves, their families and their residents.

Join the members of District 1199 who are fighting for fairness. If this employer can get away with violating the law and hiring permanent replacements – who’s next?

ALSO, YOU CAN JOIN THE PICKET LINES ANYTIME FROM 6AM TO 12 MIDNIGHT.

The locations are:

*BIRMINGHAM HEALTH CENTER -- 210 Chatfield St. -- Derby

*CTHILLTOP HEALTH CENTER - 126 Ford St. - Ansonia

*CTLAUREL HILL HEALTHCARE - 108 East Lake St. - Winsted

*CTPARK PLACE HEALTH CENTER - 5 Greenwood St. - Hartford, CT

Posted by Tom Connolly

1199 SPECTRUM STRIKE UPDATE

[Photo above: District 1199 on the picket line at a Spectrum facility] Click on photo for full screen

RALLY IN THE VALLEY

* DATE: Saturday, May 8, 2010

* TIME; 11AM to 1PM

* PLACE: Birmingham Health Center Picket Line

210 Chatfield Street, Derby

400 nurses, aides and support staff at four nursing homes operated by Spectrum Healthcare have been on strike since April 15th over Unfair Labor Practices. The homes are Birmingham Health Center in Derby, Hilltop Health Center in Ansonia, Laurel Hill Healthcare in Winsted, and Park Place Health Center in Hartford.

Spectrum is the only nursing home company to provoke a strike, after 33 other nursing homes settled fair contracts on the same terms that are on the table with Spectrum.

Spectrum illegally fired more than 50 workers prior to the strike and is under investigation by the National Labor Relations Board. 83% of the facilities Spectrum operates in Connecticut have been repeatedly cited by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) for having illness and injury rates that are more than twice the national average.

The company says that it has hired permanent replacements for the strikers who are standing up for themselves, their families and their residents.

Join the members of District 1199 who are fighting for fairness. If this employer can get away with violating the law and hiring permanent replacements – who’s next?

ALSO, YOU CAN JOIN THE PICKET LINES ANYTIME FROM 6AM TO 12 MIDNIGHT.

The locations are:

BIRMINGHAM HEALTH CENTER -- 210 Chatfield St. -- Derby,
CTHILLTOP HEALTH CENTER - 126 Ford St. - Ansonia,
CTLAUREL HILL HEALTHCARE - 108 East Lake St. - Winsted,
CTPARK PLACE HEALTH CENTER - 5 Greenwood St. - Hartford, CT

Source: http://www.nehceu.org/

Posted by Tom Connolly

GOBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE FORUM

The theme of the gubernatorial forum is "Prospering Communities, Thriving Families."

*DATE: Monday, May 10, 2010
*TIME: 6:30 PM
*PLACE: SBM CHARITABLE FOUNDATION AUDITORIUM
On the Campus of Manchester Community College
[Parking Available in Lot "C"]

Come hear the views of Connecticut's Gubernatorial candidates on important issues, such as the state budget, jobs, education, health and related topics. Connecticut is the richest state in the United States yet Hartford is tied for the poorest city per capita in the nation. Connecticut can do better!

Forum Sponsors: CT Association for Human Services, CT Voices for Children,
CT Association of Community Action, CT Women's Education and Legal Fund, CT Council of Family Service Agencies, End Hunger CT!, CT Nonprofit Human Services Cabinet, Legal Assistance Resource Center of CT.

Posted by Tom Connolly

CT AFL-CIO MEMORIAL - "MOURN FOR THE DEAD-FIGHT FOR THE LIVING"

[Photo Above: After a 20 year struggle by the Connecticut AFL-CIO there is now a permanent workers memorial in Hartford's Bushnell Park dedicated to all workers who where injured or lost their lives while at their work site. The inscription is a quote from Mother Jones that reads, "Mourn for the Dead - Fight for the Living."] Click on photo for full screen.

[Photo Above: John Olsen, President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO lead the 20 year struggle to get the Worker's Memorial. He is speaking on the steps of the State Capitol to the crowd that gathered to commemorate the memorial on April 28th, Workers Memorial Day.]

The Connecticut AFL-CIO, lead by John Olson, president, dedicated the Workers Memorial in Hartford's Bushnell park on April 28th, 2010, which is international Workers Memorial Day.

Workers Memorial Day was initiated by the AFL-CIO after the collapse of the Connecticut L'Ambiance Plaza and the devastating loss of workers' lives. More than 100 events are planned throughout the world to recognize and remember workers injured or killed on the job.

Nationally 5,071 workers died on the job and 3.7 million were injured in 2008 according to the most recent figures in the new report by the AFL-CIO. It took 20 years to get the memorial because of objections to the location on state capitol grounds or in Bushnell Park. The persistence of the Connecticut AFL-CIO won that struggle. Everyone is encouraged to stop by, view the memorial and recommit themselves to fight for worker safety.

[Other Photos] [Photo Above: The AFL-CIO Workers Memorial Committee at the site of the memorial.]

[Photo Above: State Senator Edith Prague and House Majority Leader Chris Donovan, at mic, pay their respects to injured and workers who lost their lives and pledge to continue to fight for workers safety.]

[Striking District 1199 workers joined the march to the memorial from the state capitol to Bushnell Park. You can join their picket line anytime from 6AM to 12 Midnight any day. Strike locations at in Derby, Ansonia, Winsted and Hartford. See the April 24 1199 strike article below for details.]

Posted by: Tom Connolly

A CALL FOR UNITED ACTION TO CREATE JOBS FOR ALL WITH EQUALITY AND PEACE

[Photo above: Part of the crowd that gathered at the New Haven People's Center on Sunday to honor activist in Connecticut.] Click on photo for full screen.

It was an overflow crowd with inspiring presentations and music at the People’s Center in New Haven on April 25 for the People's World/Mundo Popular Newsmaker Awards and panel discussion around the theme: "A Call to United Action to Create Jobs for All with Equality and Peace."

Kit Salazar-Smith, vice president of the Waterbury Labor Council, chaired the afternoon event. The crowd was welcomed by Joelle Fishman, Chair of the Connecticut Community Party USA, whose state convention, geared to the struggle for jobs and the 2010 elections, preceded the event.

IAM Local 1746-A in Cheshire Connecticut was recognized for a decades-long and continuing struggle to win and enforce contract language that holds Pratt & Whtiney (UTC) accountable and stops the loss of jobs. President Wayne McCarthy described the union's courageous fight which resulted in a court order preventing the giant multi-national corporation from moving jobs overseas during the life of the contract.

The Greater Hartford Labor Council received their award for broad outreach and involvement of organized workers and the community in the 2008 elections and for a pro- worker agenda for health care, job creation and workers' rights. President Peggy Buchanan announced the Council is opening a street front headquarters for more outreach.

The Asociaciion de trabajadores de New Haven is an organization of immigrants that represents unorganized workers in their struggles against extreme exploitation. The award was presented to immigrant workers who defended their rights on the job and for mobilizing the March on Washington.Organizer John Lugo stood with three immigrants whose wages had been withheld on a nearby farm, and described their struggle for justice which ended with partial pay recovered.

The audience was entertained and inspired by the music of Frank Panzarella, the poetry of Boub Bidon and several Latin songs by the dynamic quartet Beto Castillo, Jeff Fuller, Richard Hill, and Marco Castillo.

Posted and photo by Tom Connolly