Tuesday’s Labor and Public Employees Committee public hearing was a packed house over two bills that would give home care assistants and daycare workers the right to collectively bargain benefits with the state.

Continue reading "Collective Bargaining Hearing Draws Large Crowds" »

Tags: collectively bargain, bargaining, union, home care attendants, PCAs, Peter Tercyak, disability, executive order

A new report from the Connecticut Institute for the 21st Century found that the cost of delivering state and local public services in Connecticut has grown at a pace 405 percent faster than median personal income over the past 12 years.

Continue reading "State, Municipalities Need To Make More Purchases Together" »

Tags: procurement, Institute for the 21st Century, job, spending, Brian Renstrom, municipalities

Nonprofit Liaison Deb Heinrich will be leaving her post in March, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s office announced Friday.

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Tags: Heinrich, Malloy administration, nonprofit advocate, Nonprofit Liaison

The Connecticut Community Providers Association called on the state Monday to modernize its “frayed” social safety net, which has suffered from years of flat funding and increased costs.

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Tags: community providers, rescission, social safety net, unfunded mandates, Hugh McQuaid

The wage inequality gap between high and low wage earners in Connecticut has widened over the last five years, according to a recent report by the Connecticut Voices for Children.

Continue reading "Report: Connecticut Income Disparity Widens" »

Tags: income disparity, Connecticut Voices for Children, Hugh McQuaid

The community gathered at St. John’s Church in Waterbury to discuss the merger of Waterbury Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital. Texas-based LHP Hospital Group is looking to buy and merge both hospitals.

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Blood collection employees of the American Red Cross voted over the weekend to ratify a tentative agreement reached between the nonprofit and AFSCME Local 3145 following a 10-day strike and three years of negotiations.

Continue reading "Red Cross Workers Ratify Collective Bargaining Agreement" »

Tags: American Red Cross, labor unions, blood collection workers, strike, collective bargaining

(Updated 2:17 p.m.) It’s an annual tradition where politicians join pediatricians at the Connecticut Medical Center and the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group to talk about potentially dangerous and toxic toys.

Continue reading "Trouble In Toyland 2011" »

Tags: toys, Toxic Chemicals, Blumenthal, ConnPIRG, trouble, hazards, phthalates

There was no talk about things in the past Thursday at the Connecticut Science Center. The inaugural “Evening Honoring Women in Science,” sponsored by The Petit Family Foundation, was about looking forward. Dr. William A. Petit Jr. spoke of how science had always been a part of his life and that of his family.

—More photos

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Tags: Petit Family Foundation, science, Jeffrey Immelt, gender, Connecticut Science Center

The American Red Cross reached a tentative agreement with AFSCME Local 3145 Council 4, the union representing its 200 Connecticut blood collection workers early Sunday morning, ending a 10-day strike, Red Cross spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey said.

Continue reading "Tentative Agreement Reached, But Bad Blood Remains" »

Tags: American Red Cross, labor, afscme council 4, strike, contract, Hugh McQuaid