In This Together CT

Leaders and members of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) are speaking out in support of their union brothers and sisters at Pratt & Whitney in negotiations with United Technologies (UTC) over the outsourcing of 1,000 jobs. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) had won a court victory earlier in the year to stop the closure of two engine repair shops in Connecticut, but the union contract expires this Sunday and the company has yet to reach an agreement with union representatives. (more…)

Members of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) this morning are congratulating Dannel Malloy and Nancy Wyman on their win as the next governor and lieutenant governor of the state of Connecticut. The Secretary of the State announced the results Friday evening after final ballots were tabulated in the closest gubernatorial election in more than 50 years.
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The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) has taken action in response to what it believes are violations of the protected privacy rights of its unions’ members by Hartford Hospital. At issue is the hospital’s direct communications with its own patients in an effort to use them for leverage in contentious negotiations with Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. The coalition has filed a Health Information Privacy Complaint with the federal Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights on behalf of its members over the hospital’s actions. (more…)

Leadership and members of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) called recent comments by Tom Foley, the Republican candidate for governor, a demonstration of his ignorance of Connecticut state law and his callous disregard for the middle class who are struggling with job loss, a lack of vital public services and an economic recession. (more…)

Leaders of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) today described Governor M. Jodi Rell’s announced proposals for reducing unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities as political grandstanding at its most cynical.
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“State pension plans are going broke, and only Wall Street can save us!” That’s the plain language translation of the recent projection by Northwestern University Assistant Professor Joshua D. Rauh. The plain language translation of an analysis of his paper commissioned by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) and outside experts: “Your facts are wrong, your assumptions are invalid, and your recommendations are unhelpful. Other than that, great report.” (more…)

Leaders of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) praised the passage of “An Act Concerning The Purchasing Of Prescription Drugs By Nonstate Public Employers,” which allows municipalities and school districts to participate in the State prescription drug plan. With the Governor’s signature of the bill yesterday, bulk purchases of the plan will mean significant reductions in the overall cost of life-saving medications. (more…)

Rell Administration representatives abruptly left a planned meeting with leaders of the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) this evening to discuss the governor’s latest Early Retirement Incentive Program (ERIP). Union leaders noted that the governor’s plan could cost taxpayers over $1 billion dollars while decimating state services, and pressed for responses to cost savings proposals they made in January that would have improved services and saved more money than is estimated through the ERIP. (more…)

Leaders and members of the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) are reacting to passage of the General Assembly’s 2010 budget deficit mitigation package. Both the House and Senate passed the package this week and the governor signed the bill yesterday. The plan relied largely on an additional $100 million in savings from the coalition’s 2009 agreement, which is now expected to provide nearly $1 billion towards the previous and current biennium, as well as an additional $60 million in federal reimbursements from the stimulus package. (more…)

Leaders and members of the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) were at the Capitol today for the governor’s budget address as Connecticut begins its 2010 legislative session. Governor Rell addressed the General Assembly to deliver her proposals for closing the budget deficit. While her proposals avoided additional devastating spending cuts which have already cost our state nearly 50,000 jobs, they did little to address the underlying problems facing Connecticut. (more…)