The 2026 legislative session yielded some very good legislation for labor. HB 5003(sections 44-47) AN ACT CONCERNING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN THE STATE.,was passed and included in the budget. This bill has a component that specifically addresses the backlog of double poles in our state. We had the support of leadership in both the House and the Senate as well as bi-partisan support from the legislative body. We crafted language to address the backlog and double poles. This is helpful because most attachers have not shown up to do the work they're supposed to do which creates a backlog. There is now a component that allows Verizon to shift the attachers facilities and bill the attacher at the prevailing wages for the telecommunications work related to moving facilities. The prevailing wage is set at our hourly technician rate plus fringe benefits. This new legislation should mitigate the process the regulatory authority (PURA) ordered in their attempts to address the backlog created that basically cut our bargaining unit out of shifting double poles by creating a single visit transfer process. This was part of the reason we filed a lawsuit related to PURA's decision which impacted our Collective Bargaining Agreement. We were able to get a settlement through the lawsuit that allows our work to be protected from their decisions going forward. The employer cannot say that it was a state-mandated contracting initiative. It requires the company to follow the Collective Bargaining Agreement which protects our members from layoffs when contractors are being used. Also, Connecticut elections are this fall and it’s important to re-elect legislators who were supportive of our initiatives this session and to elect others that will do the same for labor issues we may need help with down the road.
This summer we will be putting together a webinar to talk about the importance of supporting candidates who are strong on labor issues. Additionally, the CT AFL-CIO will be having in-person interviews for the Congressional candidates as well as interviewing state candidates over the summer who have responded to the candidate questionnaire the CT AFL-CIO makes available to them. Below are the scheduled in person interviews and I have been asked to encourage all members to sign up and attend the interviews in their District. Please try to attend an interview in your district. Links to rsvp are below.
We are excited to announce that we have scheduled in-district interviews with every Congressional candidate who completed our questionnaire!
We need your help to encourage member participation in these interviews. Engaging our members is especially important this election season, and these meetings offer a unique opportunity for rank-and-file members to interact directly with candidates and get energized to volunteer.
Here is the schedule of interviews:
MAY 26: Interview in CD 4 - Candidate: Jim Himes
Click here to RSVP
MAY 27: Interview in CD 3 - Candidate: Rosa DeLauro
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MAY 28: Interview in CD 5 - Candidate: Jahana Hayes
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JUNE 1: Interview in CD 2 - Candidate: Joe Courtney
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JUNE 6: Interview in CD 1 - Candidates: John Larson, Luke Bronin, Jillian Gilchrist, Ruth Fortune
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