Unions

Take the “Union Challenge!”

Powerful billionaires are using the Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME to further rig the economy against working families. We won’t let any court case stand in the way of our fight for the good union jobs our families, communities, and country need. (Learn more about the the Janus v. AFSCME case from this link provided by our sisters and brothers from SEIU Local 1199.)

One way to show you’re standing up for  your co-workers, your community, and yourself through your union is to take the “Union Challenge!” (also referred to as the Norma Rae Challenge).

Here’s what you can do:
1. Grab a piece of paper, cardboard, poster board, or anything you can write on, and write “UNION” on the sign!
2. Raise the sign above your head—you can stand on your desk or chair, or in your work place.
3. Have a friend take your photo.
4. Upload to your favorite social media site & share it using the hashtags #Union and #WeRise.

Take a look at a number of your fellow 4Cs sisters and brothers below who have already taken the challenge.

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Time for you to get into the action.  Click here to share your Union Challenge picture with us.YourPhotoHEre

June 1st, 2018

Posted In: Unions

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Register Now for the 4Cs Membership Conference

Please join the 4Cs for our 2018 Membership Conference on Saturday, April 28 at the Mystic Hilton. The agenda and registration can be found here.

Workshops will include preparing for retirement, promotion and tenure, contract questions and answers, labor history, conflict resolution, the politics of public higher education, and more!

Our lunchtime speaker will be Steve Thornton, author of
Wicked Hartford. “One of the oldest cities in America, Hartford holds plenty of sinful stories. Famed inventor and industrialist Samuel Colt sold arms to both the North and South in the buildup to the Civil War. The notorious Seyms Street jail was the subject of national criticism and scandal for its deplorable conditions. Local journalist Daniel Birdsall fought to expose corruption in the powerful insurance industry and local government at the expense of his own printing presses. Tension between unions and “robber barons” such as Jay Gould spilled into the streets during the Gilded Age. In Wicked Hartford, Author Steve Thornton takes readers on an exciting journey through the seedy underbelly of Hartford’s past” (read more here).

Steve Thornton is a retired union organizer (the 4Cs and 1199) and community activist who has led strikes and organizing campaigns in Connecticut for the past 35 years. He has trained hundreds of people in nonviolent direct action and thousands of workers to become rank and file leaders. Steve has worked to build coalitions between various groups working on economic, racial, and environmental justice (http://bportlibrary.org/hc/author/steve-thornton/)

Registration will remain open until Friday, April 20. Please register here!

April 2nd, 2018

Posted In: Adjuncts, Events, Part-Timers, Unions

Act Now! State Budget Hurts Colleges

The budget passed by the House and Senate over the weekend hurts our students and our colleges. In President Ojakian’s words, “Early Saturday morning the Connecticut General Assembly passed a budget that intends to cut approximately $93M from the CSCU system over the next two years. Funding for developmental education is completely eliminated, while the Roberta Willis scholarship fund is phased out…This amounts to an unprecedented denial of access and support to public higher education students in Connecticut.” Read the full statement here.

The budget would also dismantle our fundamental collective bargaining rights by:

  • Removing funding for cost-of-living increases for retired state employees;
  • Unilaterally changing how pensions are calculated– even for years already worked, and for all years through 2027;
  • And increasing pension contributions for ALL state employees to 7%.
If this budget were passed into law, SEBAC would be forced to litigate and defend our contractual and contract rights.
The Governor has pledged to veto the budget, but the Yankee Institute is encouraging people to contact the Governor and ask him to sign the budget.
We are asking you to do two things:
  1. Please contact your legislators to demand restoration of funding to the Community Colleges and the Willis Scholarship. You can locate your legislators and view our template email by visiting this link.
  2. Please email Governor Malloy to ask him to stand by his pledge to veto this budget and to restore funding for CSCU and the Willis Scholarship in the budget compromise. You can email him here.

 

September 20th, 2017

Posted In: Political Action, Unions

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A Message from President Bonina

Thank you to everyone who participated in the vote on the 4Cs and SEBAC Tentative Agreements.
All three tentative agreements – SEBAC, 4Cs full-time CBA, and 4Cs part-time CBA – were overwhelmingly approved by you. Please see the attached for our CBA results.
In addition, all Connecticut SEBAC voting unit members unanimously approved the SEBAC tentative agreement. Please see the SEBAC press release here.
The support of these agreements by our members sends an important message to every Connecticut citizen. Together, we have stated loud and clear that we are willing to do our part to assure Connecticut Community Colleges continue to deliver affordable, high quality education and excellent services into the future. This is what we do, and we do it extremely well!
Your support for these agreements is a reflection of how much 4Cs members care about protecting Connecticut Community Colleges, our students, and our communities.
Thank you for your dedication and sacrifice.
In solidarity,
Bryan R. Bonina, President
Congress of CT Community Colleges

July 18th, 2017

Posted In: 4Cs President, SEBAC, Unions

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University of Hartford Votes to Join 4Cs

The University of Hartford adjuncts voted to join the Congress of Connecticut Community Colleges and SEIU Faculty Forward, marking the first successful effort by adjuncts at a private university in Connecticut!

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January 5th, 2017

Posted In: Part-Timers, Uncategorized, Unions

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Have You Signed a Postcard in Support of the Community Colleges?

Tell legislators to support Connecticut’s community colleges! Follow the link to share your contact information and we’ll add your name and send the postcard for you. 

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February 25th, 2016

Posted In: Students, Unions

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Video from “A Celebration of Unity, Equality, and Democracy”

A diverse group of community, faith, civic and labor organizations on the weekend before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2016 came together to reclaim the great civil rights leader’s vision. Over 300 people gathered at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Bloomfield for a forum design to promote greater democracy and end racial and economic inequality.

Attendees pledged to work together and hold elected and civic leaders accountable in five key policy areas. They include:
* good jobs and fair wages;
* universal access to quality public education;
* a vibrant and fairly funded public sector;
* racial, gender, and ethnic justice; and
* real democracy in our state and in our workplaces.

Follow Unity, Equality and Democracy Connecticut on Facebook to learn more and be part of the movement: https://www.facebook.com/UnityEqualit…

Music: Scotticesa Marks, https://www.youtube.com/user/sdmwassup

Videographer: Neal Thomassen, https://www.facebook.com/unionneal

January 27th, 2016

Posted In: Events, SEBAC, Unions

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Educational Resources on Friedrichs Case

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Please visit our new webpage that contains educational resources on the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association here.

January 26th, 2016

Posted In: SEIU, Unions

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Challenging Runaway Inequality

Join the 4Cs and Connecticut Citizen Action Group for:

Justice Works Convening

JUSTICE WORKSGRAPH

Saturday, January 30, 9AM

Middlesex Community College, Chapman Hall 808 A&B

Lunch Included

Speakers & Panelists include:

  • Les Leapold, The Labor & Public Health Institute
  • Libero Della Piana, Alliance for a Just Society
  • Bishop John Selders Jr., CLS, D.D. Pastor, Amistad UCC
  • Subira Gordon, African American Affairs Commission
  • Frances Padilla, President, Universal Health Foundation CT

January 20th, 2016

Posted In: Events, Unions

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Important Supreme Court Hearing Today

Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. 

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The case pits the right of public employees to band together and form effective unions to pursue the common interests of workers against the free speech rights of dissenting public employees to abstain from funding collective bargaining efforts with which they disagree.1 A decision by the Court against the teachers association could not only significantly weaken public sector unions, but also endanger the nation’s core democratic values.

A decision by the Court against the teachers association could not only significantly weaken public sector unions, but also endanger the nation’s core democratic values.

Read more by Richard D. Kahlenberg here.

January 11th, 2016

Posted In: Unions

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