Phone: 860-951-6614
CSEA SEIU Local 2001
Recovery For All Jan 03, 2022
SEBAC & Recovery For All Highlight Need for Public Services: Service Recipients Address the Press on Underfunding & Understaffing
by Drew Stoner
    On Wednesday, December 1st at 2:00 p.m., recipients of public services from various state agencies held a press conference on Zoom to demand that Governor Lamont protect and expand vital state services. Speakers addressed the need for increased funding and higher staffing levels in order to ensure a strong future for Connecticut. 
    In the decade after the Great Recession, the state government cut the state employee workforce by more than 20%. This destructive trend has accelerated during the pandemic: according to a recent report by the Pew Charitable Trusts, the state slashed the government workforce (excluding the education sector) by 7.6% between July 2019 and July 2021 alone -- one of the largest reductions anywhere in the country. 
    Now, amid the greatest crisis in a century, some forces in the state are seeking to take advantage of an anticipated state employee retirement wave by accelerating the privatization and destruction of the vital state services that all working people across Connecticut depend on, in particular black and brown workers, women workers, and immigrant workers. SEBAC and RFA are calling on Governor Lamont to publicly commit to protecting and expanding -- not shrinking and privatizing -- state services by filling the thousands of current vacancies, refilling positions that will open due to retirements, and increasing funding for programs and services that build equity. 
    Francesca Palmer, a Central Connecticut State University student, called on Governor Lamont and the State Legislature to fund our future, “Today I ask: Governor Lamont, State Representatives, State Senators- do you see us as the future of Connecticut? If you do (and I certainly hope you do), then I have a simple but vital message to leave with you: if you want us to BE the future of Connecticut, then you need to FUND our future.”
    Taiz Marlene Gonzalez told her story as a client of the Bridgeport YAS residential program in the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, “I’ve learned to be more responsible independently, I’ve learned how to cook and clean, I’ve learned how to maintain my personal hygiene and staffers have worked with me to make sure I make better life choices. But one of my biggest concerns is feeling a sense of safety from staff after coming from a toxic and dysfunctional family.” 
    John Brady, RN, recounted his experience as a recipient of public higher education services when he became unemployed, “My retraining helped me find a fulfilling career that made a stable life for my family and that got me off of a cycle of unemployment and I think it was good for the people of the state of Connecticut. So I urge the Governor and the legislature to fund Connecticut’s future and to continue services such as those that I was able to take advantage of.”     
    John Jairo Lugo, Co-Founder and Community Organizing Director of Unidad Latina en Acción, reminded the audience of the importance of these state services on vulnerable populations, “We work on wage theft cases because it is an issue that affects most of our community. There is a tendency to take advantage of our members because they are undocumented. We have a good relationship with the Labor Department of Connecticut, but one of the problems we are facing is a shortage of workers at the Labor Department. . . . What happens when an employee files a [wage and hour] complaint? Who is going to take those cases if there are not enough workers at the Labor Department?”
State Senator Saud Anwar, a champion for public services, spoke about the negative impacts that funding and staffing cuts have on our state, “We also know there are so many different crises we are dealing with [that are the result of] lack of investment. . . The support that we are providing to our senior citizens, the support we are providing to individuals in our society with mental health and substance use issues, have been neglected because we have not had the workforce to address those issues.” Senator Anwar went on to explain that privatization is not the answer: “When we move work to contractors, they show numbers that are short lived and not actually calculating the overall cost to society. This is a failed strategy.”
 

 

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