October 15, 2012
From: Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
Too Cozy a Relationship Between the
Governor, the State Legislature and the State Employee Unions? You Decide!
************************
Healthbridge Sues alleging…..
“…. the pattern of actions by SEIU, including
enlisting politicians and liberal activists in efforts to shame the company
into a more generous stance toward its workers, are criminal extortion under
the RICO Act, a federal law often invoked in cases of organized crime and
racketeering. "This action is not about strikes or union organizing or
collective bargaining," the suit says. "It is about a corporate
campaign, endorsed and effectuated by Defendants and facilitated by the
politicians they support, that is in its essence a shake-down by a lawless
enterprise." SEIU
is the Service Employees International Union
*********************
The headlines focusing on the operations of our State
government are a concern.
In the recent article captioned Raise scandal pulls in Malloy -
Connecticut Post we have learned that “The scandal last week
over secret raises and huge salaries that forced the president of the state's
university system -- and his executive vice president -- to resign in disgrace
began and ended with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, political
opponents say. “In the summer of
2011, Malloy pressed the General
Assembly to create a new Board of
Regents for Higher Education,
merging the state's four-year and community colleges. “The governor then chose
the first president for the new system, Robert
Kennedy, and set his $340,000 annual salary.” Although Kennedy resigned, getting that money
back from some could be a problem because Regents may need union OK to suspend three of the illegal
raises. …. as “three system office staff who
received wage hikes are unionized employees, represented by an education
professionals bargaining unit within Council 4 of the American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees.”
So who will win? And
how hard will Governor Malloy and the State legislature fight for the money
because headlines so far such as the following Union official at center of influence
peddling ... - Connecticut Post, to
the most recent HealthBridge Sues SEIU, Claims Extortion - Courant.com, illustrate what appears to be a too close for comfort
relationship between the Governor, the State legislature and the state employee
unions, as the following illustrates.
Displayed on the Governor’s website is the article captioned
Labor Deal in Hand,
Malloy Serves Up Red Meat at the JJB (Jefferson
Jackson Bailey Dinner) in which the reporter notes on May 16, 2011 “Gov. Dannel P. Malloy delivered his first red-meat speech as
governor Monday night, proclaiming himself a proud son of organized labor and
defender of a social safety net woven by generations of Democrats dating to
FDR.” The article can be accessed at the
following web link http://www.governor.ct.gov/malloy/cwp/view.asp?A=11&Q=479456
As the self proclaimed Son of Organized Labor, it’s evident
that Governor Malloy has worked tirelessly since that speech to further the
efforts of not only the public sector employee unions but also private sector
employees seeking to negotiate with the State.
However, lost in the headlines is the fact that Connecticut
taxpayers pay the costs for public sector workers and those costs, to include a
9% wage increase with a no-layoff job guarantee for state employees could
ultimately cost homeowners and business owners more in property taxes if,
within the life of the state employee contract, the Governor runs out of money
and is forced to cut municipal aid as on September 4, 2012 State Comptroller Lembo says state must rein in spending to avoid another deficit.
On Sept 15, 2011 in the article by CT News Junkie | Malloy Asks Labor Not
To Question His Commitment, the
reporter wrote “Addressing the AFL-CIO annual convention at Foxwoods
Casino, Malloy said he is committed to helping grow the labor movement and
wants to make it easier for employees to organize.”
A week later, on September 21, 2011, CTNewsJunkie.com
announced
Malloy Keeps Promise To Unions By Signing Two Executive Orders. Therein they reported “It was just last week that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy asked
labor leaders not to question his commitment to labor. “Today he signed two
executive orders that provide a path for state child care workers and personal
care attendants to organize and gain collective bargaining rights. “I have said repeatedly that I believe in the
rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain. “Click here to read executive order no. 9 and here to read executive order no. 10.”
Malloy’s executive orders followed proposed legislation
which had died in committee on the Hill in Hartford.
On March 22, 2012, the Hartford Courant announced Two State Legislators File Lawsuit
Against Malloy Over Right To ... Unionize noting “Sen. Joseph Markley, a conservative from
Southington, and Rep. Rob Sampson of Wolcott filed the lawsuit with
others to prevent the controversial unionization of personal care
attendants and daycare workers.” “Daycare providers are self-employed individuals, and they have the
right to make their own decisions,” Markley said in a statement. “Personal care
attendants are not state employees. “I have
spoken to many, who share a good working relationship
with their employers. “They neither requested nor desire union involvement.”
Also, on March 22, 2012 it was announced that Yankee Institute of Public Policy files
lawsuits to block daycare and ... and personal care assistant
unionization noting “Fergus Cullen, executive director of the conservative
institute, said the orders violated both state and federal labor laws as well
as the state Constitution. “He said whether or not these workers could
unionize was up to lawmakers, not the governor.” “The child care workers who are supported by the state funded Care
4 Kids program have already voted to join CSEA/SEIU Local 2001, while an
election is underway among personal care attendants to join SEIU 1199”.
The State Legislature apparently not wanting to be outdone
by the Governor in showing their loyalty to the unions and with lawsuits
challenging the Governor’s actions, took
action of their own which was in turn highlighted on May 15, 2012 on the SEIU
Website in a posting which read: CT Legislature Stands with Home Care
Workers & Consumers noting
that
“After 6 and a half hours of debate, the Connecticut State Senate
passed legislation on May 3rd that grants family child care providers and
home care workers the right to negotiate with the state for better pay and
benefits and improved training.”
On June 23, 2012, the Register Citizen announced the SEIU,
Connecticut's largest union, endorses Chris Donovan ... noting “ The Service Employees
International Union, the state’s
largest labor union, endorsed Chris Donovan‘s bid for 5th District Congress Saturday morning at a rally
in Danbury. “The SEIU has 55,000 members
in Connecticut,
with six affiliated locals representing community college employees, police
officers, state employees and health care workers. It’s
membership includes 10,000 people in the 5th District. “Donovan has worked as a labor union
organizer for most of his career and has supported labor causes as a state
representative and Speaker of the House.”
On July 11, 2012, Governor Malloy was again in the news
pushing his pro-union agenda as CTMirror.org reported Malloy pickets with striking nursing
home workers | The Connecticut ...
while “accusing HealthBridge Management of New Jersey
of violating labor laws in its battle with employees at its five facilities in
Connecticut”.
To their credit, on July 19, 2012 the Hartford Courant
editorial staff wrote State officials should stay off the
picket lines, out of toxic fight ... Governor Unwise To Take Union Side
In Nursing Home Strike. The Courant appropriately noted ….. “Gov. Dannel P.
Malloy and Attorney General George Jepsen might have
to admit that their public act of solidarity with striking union members
recently was not such a wise move. “The
governor last week and the attorney general on Tuesday marched on the picket
line in support of nursing home workers with the Service Employees
International Union, who are in a fight with HealthBridge
Management, which runs several nursing homes in Connecticut. “The HealthBridge-SEIU
fight, however, is a toxic mess. “The two officials may have stepped too close
to it for their own good.”
On July 27, 2012, headlines read 7 charged in Donovan probe -
Connecticut Post. in which it was
disclosed that “Raymond Soucy,
60, of Naugatuck, a former corrections union treasurer and longtime Democratic
operative, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of devising a scheme to bribe a
public official and conspiracy to make false statements to the Federal Elections Commission.”
On August 20, 2012, the headline on the website of the
National Right to Work Committee read: Union Bosses Stick
by “their guy” despite FBI Investigation – But he Lost Anyway. The article goes on
to say “Big Labor promised to carry Connecticut
House Speaker over the finish line in his Democrat primary despite allegations
of fraud and an FBI investigation. “But something unexpected happened —
Chris Donovan lost.“Matt DeRienzo
of the Register Citizen
described the situation as all elected big wigs in the state lied
up to support Donovan for fear of opposing the union bosses. ”Gov. Dannel Malloy, Attorney General George Jepsen, Congressman Chris Murphy, the rest of the
delegation, and others, were paralyzed by their dependence on future support
from the state’s labor unions. “Their fear, and it was no
doubt well-placed, was that turning on Donovan would be perceived as
turning on labor. “So they stayed out of it. “Even as the FBI
swooped in to arrest more of his campaign staff. “Even
as the language in indictments brought the scandal closer to the candidate
himself. “Donovan was “a career
labor union organizer and the movement’s biggest and most powerful single
support in the Connecticut General Assembly” was figuratively and
literally “their guy.”
And now it appears, the chickens have come home to roost so to speak,
because on October 11, 2012 the Hartford Courant, whose editorial staff had
previously criticized Governor Malloy and Attorney General Jepsen
for striking with the union against HealthBridge,
reported that HealthBridge Sues SEIU, Claims Extortion -
Courant.com . The Courant
article went on to note “HealthBridge Management and CareOne, interconnected companies that own and run nursing
homes in Connecticut and five other
states, on Wednesday filed a federal
lawsuit that calls a union's publicity campaign against them "a shake-down
by a lawless enterprise." “The companies say the pattern of actions by
SEIU, including enlisting politicians and liberal activists in efforts to shame
the company into a more generous stance toward its workers, are criminal
extortion under the RICO Act, a federal law often invoked in cases of organized
crime and racketeering. "This
action is not about strikes or union organizing or collective bargaining,"
the suit says. "It is about a corporate campaign, endorsed and effectuated
by Defendants and facilitated by the politicians they support, that is in its
essence a shake-down by a lawless enterprise."
It is fair to question if the public sector unions have an unhealthy
influence over Governor Malloy and our State Legislators on the Hill in
Hartford thereby preventing our state elected officials from effectively
managing our State where taxpayers are now taxed to the max and property owners
are paying approximately 80% to 90% of their property taxes to support the
wages, healthcare, and pensions benefits of Municipal and Board of Education
employees, the majority of whom are under union contracts driven by state
mandates which the State legislature refuses to reform.
Governor Malloy and the State Legislature would be wise to turn their
loyalty away from the unions and toward the taxpayers of our State within the 169
Connecticut towns as Connecticut
| Tax Foundation notes that
Connecticut's State and Local Tax Burden is the Third-Highest in Nation,
and as CCM the Municipal
Lobbying Group Addresses Escalating Property Taxes , while the Fiscal
Report Card on America's Governors: 2012, Cato White ... Paper No.
35 referenced
in Think
Tank Flunks Gov. Malloy’s Fiscal Record [VIDEO] notes “An “orgy” of
tax hikes under Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s watch is the reason
the first-term governor scored an “F” in a report by the Cato Institute, a libertarian
think tank. “The Cato Institute wrote: Dan Malloy of Connecticut signed into law a huge $1.8
billion tax increase, which increased the top individual income tax rate from
6.5 to 6.7 percent, the top corporate tax rate from 8.25 to 9.0 percent, and
the sales tax rate from 6.0 to 6.35 percent. “The governor also increased
hotel taxes, luxury goods taxes, online sales taxes, alcohol taxes, and
the state death tax. “After this tax hike orgy, Malloy had the gumption to
claim that some small tax credits he approved were a “far reaching” and “rigorous
initiative to grow jobs.” “Connecticut's
unemployment rate increased in the past two months and hit 9 percent
in September.”
The Democrat controlled State Legislature should also agree to Republican
McKinney
Calls For Legislative Inquiry Into Donovan's Office as was supported
by the Hartford Courant editorial staff on August 2, 2012 which wrote Legislature
must look into whether other bills were compromised ......Start The
Inquiry: How Far Did Capitol Influence-Buying Reach? Was legislature compromised? “Democrats in the
General Assembly are too quick to dismiss Republican state Sen. John McKinney's
proposal for a bipartisan committee to investigate the influence-buying scandal
that's consuming House Speaker Chris Donovan's congressional campaign. “There's nothing excessively partisan or
unreasonable about Mr. McKinney's idea.
“He's responding to a serious matter in a responsible way in
recommending an eight-member bipartisan committee of inquiry and an independent
counsel with subpoena powers. “He wants
the panel to find out whether or how far the conspiracy alleged by federal
authorities in the Donovan campaign reached into the state Capitol and
compromised legislation. “Is the
practice of doing favors for campaign contributors
commonplace? “At a time when the
lawmaker brand everywhere seems suspect in the public's mind, such an inquiry
is perfectly in order — and in fact necessary to expose corruption if it exists
and shore up public trust.”
Taxpayers would agree! And voters
have an opportunity before November 6, 2012 to query all State of Connecticut Legislative
candidates to determine if they will support such an inquiry!