Since
announcing the formation of the Hartford Public Services Coalition in mid-April, the City's workers and fellow good government advocates have been at the center of the battle to adopt a fair budget for the next fiscal year. As today's
Hartford Courant reports, both City and Board of Education workers will play a critical role as the Mayor and City Council now must find some common ground between their competing proposals.
Over the past four weeks, our members in Council 760's Chapter 848 working for the city have stood with the coalition's labor and community partners to
maintain vital services. We believe that in the alleged current budget crisis, policy makers, employees and taxpayers need to cooperatively work to restore Hartford's fiscal stability.
On Tuesday, the Coalition
proposed potential solutions for closing the budget gap without increasing local taxes to the City Council. To put our suggestions in context, highlights of the coalition's efforts over the past month are listed below, along with links to relevant documents and news coverage available online.
April 16 – Announcing Our New Coalition
Local news coverage put the historic partnership – the first of its kind in nearly twenty years – in the context of the budget battle.
April 22 – Lobbying State Lawmakers
We joined with unions representing Board of Education employees at "Hartford Day at the Capitol" to share concerns about the Governor's proposal to "flat fund" Education Cost Sharing (ECS) in Connecticut's public schools.
April 28 – Speaking Out at the Budget Hearing
Chapter 848 President Liz Kavanah was interviewed before the hearing, where members and leaders of the coalition stood together and called for a real partnership with the Mayor, the City Council, and the Board of Education.
May 5 – Responding to the Mayor's Demands
The Hartford Courant's CityLine blog reported on our response to Mayor Perez' letter to each of the coalition's unions requesting $31 million in givebacks to help close the budget gap.
May 11 – Requesting Budget Data
At a meeting City Council members scheduled to hear from public service workers and advocates, we formally requested what the Courant's CityLine described as the "mother of all Freedom of Information requests."
May 18 – Offering Real Solutions, Not Easy Targets
The Courant's CityLine reported on our response to the City Council's request to the Coalition's unions to help close the deficit with $6.4 million in concessions.
As WNPR-FM radio
reported today, the requested concessions were tabled during last night's public budget debate. But with the clock ticking on adoption of the
Mayor's proposed budget, our members and Coalition partners are mobilizing to prevent its threats to public services and the men and women who deliver them.
Posted by:
Matt OConnor on 5/20/2009 at 5:14:00 AM