News

Union Supports Family Values for Hamden School Crossing Guard

The birth of a baby is a blessed event, but it can be stressful, too.

Engaging Our Union Members To Combat Climate Change

There’s no avoiding the reality of what’s happening to our environment.

This Year on 9/11, We Finally Live Up to Our Promise to Help Those Who Never Quit

On Sept. 11, 2001, we as a nation faced a tragedy unique in our history.

Windham Town Hall Employees: New Contract, 100% Membership

The value of union membership has become increasingly apparent in these precarious times as working people fight the blunt impact of an economy rigged by corporate and wealthy special interests.

A Decade Later: Four Ways Working People Are Still Paying for the 2008 Financial Crisis

It was 10 years ago this month that the 2008 financial crisis kicked into high gear. When storied Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers shut down, bankers walking out of the building carrying cardboard boxes of their possessions made the perfect image for TV cameras.

Working America: In Connecticut, Working For Us

We have exciting news to report.

Don’t Like Wealth Inequality? Join a Union

We Are AFSCME

No politician running for office today would openly advocate for more wealth inequality in our country, where the richest 1 percent of the population owns 40 percent of the wealth. Even candidate Donald Trump in 2016 promised to stand up for the “forgotten men and women of our country,” who feel betrayed by a rigged economic system that benefits a small minority at their expense. Yet every single day, President Trump and congressional leaders seem determined to do more to increase wealth inequality than to alleviate it; do more for corporations and the wealthy than for single parents working two or three jobs to make ends meet.

Local 269 Member Ed Hawthorne a Committed Volunteer in Politics

Ed Hawthorne of AFSCME Local 269 (State P-2 Human and Social Services) views political engagement as an absolute necessity for union members in an age of unprecedented legislative and judicial attacks on organized labor.

“Unions are our last best hope to save the middle class,” he said in explaining his commitment to labor-to-labor activities like phone banks and neighborhood canvassing for union-friendly candidates.

In Connecticut or Louisiana, the Fight Is the Same

Leighton Vanderburgh for Unions.

Roughly 1,500 miles separate Hartford, Connecticut from Angola, Louisiana, but if one Council 4 Corrections Officer’s journey is any indication, those areas are closer than you think – especially in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s anti-union decision in Janus v. AFSCME.

Be sure to watch the brief video on this page featuring Leighton's reflections on why "Right to Work for Less" is harmful.

Local 1303-26 Staying AFSCME Strong in Southington

The 34 members of AFSCME Local 1303-026, Southington Public Works/Water Pollution Control, are sticking with their union. One way they show their union pride is by wearing their Council 4 AFSCME Strong tee-shirts at work every Tuesday.
 
It’s a simple equation, according to bargaining unit President Eric Prinzorn, who is employed as a Driver. “I’ve seen it time and time again,” he said.

Defending the Future of Our Collective Bargaining Rights

A Republican legislative leader last week launched a politically motivated media attack on gains made by state employee unions. At issue are contractual bonuses due later this month as part of a 2017 agreement to protect jobs, extend benefits and preserve services. In reality, the true targets are the collective bargaining rights that secured them — rights which face an uncertain future in the wake of a recent U.S.