Nearly 300 stewards, leaders and delegates from across SEBAC gathered at Capital Community College for an afternoon statewide meeting to kick off the next major fight over pensions, healthcare and the future of public service in Connecticut.

As we look toward the next round of SEBAC negotiations, members are preparing to take on some of the biggest issues facing state workers: fixing Tier IV, protecting healthcare for active employees and retirees, strengthening hazardous duty benefits, defending telework and making sure public service jobs remain good jobs for the next generation.

For newer employees, fixing Tier IV is one of the clearest examples of why these negotiations matter. Tier IV workers are doing the same public service work as the workers who came before them, but they face a weaker retirement structure. The pension multiplier is too low, leaving many newer employees with far less retirement security after decades of service. On top of that, the risk-sharing provision shifts too much responsibility onto workers when pension costs change, meaning employees can be forced to pay more toward a benefit that already provides less. In fact, the state’s contribution or cost for Tier IV members is less than what most employers contribute to 401(k)s. 

Hazardous duty is another major issue. Workers in dangerous jobs deserve retirement benefits that recognize the physical and mental toll of the work. Whether members are working inside correctional facilities, responding to emergencies, caring for patients, protecting the public or doing other physically demanding and high-risk jobs, hazardous duty protections are about respect, safety and dignity after a career of service.

Telework is also on the table. For many state workers, telework has improved productivity, reduced commute time, helped stabilize staffing and made state service more accessible. Members know that telework is not a perk to be granted or taken away on a whim. It is a modern workplace tool that should be handled fairly, consistently and through collective bargaining.

And for both active workers and retirees, healthcare is one of the most important benefits we have. But across the country, healthcare costs continue to skyrocket and managing those costs must be rooted in improved health outcomes, not cutting corners (especially when those corners are real human lives). 

The statewide meeting was also the launch of a new workplace action using sticky notes. Across agencies and worksites, members will be invited to write down what these negotiations mean to them, their families, their coworkers and the public services they provide. 

For some members, the message may be about being able to retire with dignity. For others, it may be about affording healthcare, staying in state service or making sure newer employees are not left behind. Together, those messages will show that these negotiations affect real people, real families and real communities.

The strength of SEBAC has always come from workers standing together across unions and across job titles. When 45,000 state workers are united, we have the power to shape the future of public service in Connecticut.

That power does not appear on its own. It is built in meetings like this one. It is built when stewards talk to members at the worksite. It is built when leaders take information back to their chapters and councils. It is built when workers who may never sit at the bargaining table understand that they still have a role in winning what happens there.