"I do not view the labor movement as part of the problem. To me, it's part of the solution. You cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor movement."

-- President Barack Obama, Jan. 30, 2009

“I am glad to know that there is a system of labor where the laborer can strike if he wants to! I would to God that such a system prevailed all over the world.”

-- President Abraham Lincoln, Hartford, CT March 5, 1860

"The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and above all new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life. The captains of industry did not lead this transformation; they resisted it until they were overcome."

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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...and go to our Action Center to see actions you can take now to support working people.

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WELCOME...

TO THE GREATER HARTFORD CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL WEB SITE.

Leading up to the AFL-CIO convention in September 2013, the AFL-CIO is hosting a crucial conversation about the future of working people and of unions—in union halls and online at www.aflcio2013.org.

Gov. Walker is Coming to CT to Attack Workers’ Rights!

On Monday, May 20, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will be the keynote speaker at the Connecticut GOP’s annual fundraiser in Stamford. This is the Governor who worked in concert with the Koch brothers to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees, which resulted in huge wage and benefit cuts.

Please join the Connecticut AFL-CIO on May 20 to send the state Republicans a clear message that Scott Walker’s anti-worker agenda will NEVER be welcome in Connecticut.

March & Protest Against Scott Walker's Anti-Worker Agenda
Monday, May 20, 2013
4:45 p.m.: Gather at Metro North Station in Stamford
(Corner of South State St and Washington Blvd)
5:20 p.m.: March to the Stamford Hilton Hotel, 1 First Stamford Place

The anti-worker agenda of Scott Walker has not helped Wisconsin families:
• 44th in the nation for job creation
• Declining middle class
• Elimination of collective bargaining rights for most public workers including teachers
• Slashed pay for state workers

For more information, please contact David Dal Zin at 860-571-6191, x232 or ddalzin@ctaflcio.org

 

Rana Plaza, the Bangladesh factory that collapsed three weeks ago, killed more than 1,100 workers, many of them young women. This tragedy adds to the more than 1500 Bangladeshi workers killed in preventable fires and building collapses since 2005. Documents found at the factory show that the workers produced for big names in global retail revealing the link between poor workers in Bangladesh and major retail brands.Obviously, the government must improve local laws and their enforcement to stop these tragedies, but brands must also take responsibility for their supply chains. They must be held accountable to the tragedy that happened in their supply chain. Read more >>>

Marcus Hedger will have to wait even longer to get his job back if Senate Republicans continue to block President Obama’s bipartisan nominees to serve on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Call your senators toll free at 1-888-264-6154 and tell them to confirm the board nominations now. Hedger was illegally fired in 2010 from his pressman’s job at an Illinois printing company for his union activities on behalf of his fellow union members in the Graphic Communications Conference of the Teamsters. Last September, the full NLRB—two Democrats and one Republican, at the time—ruled he should get his job back with back pay. Read more >>>

Most voters agree that big corporations and the wealthy should start paying their fair share in taxes. But, of course, big corporations and the wealthy don’t want to do that. They want to pay less, and they are used to getting their way. So what do you do? Some people in Washington think the answer is a “grand bargain.” In a “grand bargain,” Republicans agree to stop protecting millionaires from having to pay a single penny more in taxes. In return, Democrats agree to cut Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare benefits. Read more >>>

For Lapronda Eason and the other building service workers at the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the link to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.--who died in Memphis in 1968 advocating for the rights of city sanitation workers to form a union--is as real as the job they do every day.

 

Read more >>>

The time for immigration reform is now, says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. This will be a focus for labor in 2013 as the country needs to create a common-sense immigration process with a road map to citizenship. Read more >>>

The AFL-CIO has launched its 2012 AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch site—now called CEO Pay and the 99%—which includes the most comprehensive data available on 2011 executive pay. All the data available is searchable by industry, by state and by the top 100 highest-paid CEOs.  Read more >>>

Union Members & Friends! Save on Your Electric Bill & Help Connecticut Workers! Read on....

CT AFL-CIO FACEBOOK PAGE

 

CT group warns state budget cuts would undermine economic recovery 

  

Even before the current recession began, Connecticut’s job conditions were worse than they were before the last recession at the beginning of the decade, according to a new report by Connecticut Voices for Children. In addition, the portion of unemployed workers who have been looking for jobs for more than 26 weeks is higher in Connecticut than in any New England state. Problems with the state’s economic engine extend beyond rising unemployment, however. Connecticut has been losing higher wage manufacturing jobs and gaining lower wage service sector jobs, and the leading area of economic growth – the health and education job sector -- is threatened by the prospect of severe state budget cuts.

 

The report, The State of Working Connecticut: Job Trends and the Labor Market, concludes that state government needs to take greater, not less responsibility for supporting Connecticut workers and creating higher-wage jobs. Severe state budget cuts would only worsen economic conditions for families in the state, according to the state policy thinktank.  (Read more...)

 

 

CONNECTICUT LEGISLATORS' SCORECARD

The Connecticut AFL-CIO has created a guide used to score state legislators' voting records on issues of importance to Connecticut working women and men over the years. It's a tool that can be of great value to your members.

The Greater Hartford Labor Council, AFL-CIO represents over 25,000 members of 70 unions throughout north central Connecticut. The mission of the Greater Hartford Labor Council, AFL-CIO is to improve the lives of working families—to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our state and the nation.

Read more...   (and read the latest Delegates' meeting minutes at very bottom of the "About Us" page)