New Labor Ad Campaign Urges a "People's Recovery"

Sept. 4, 2020, HARTFORD, CT -- With Labor Day 2020 around the corner,  a coalition of labor unions, including the Connecticut AFL-CIO, Connecticut Education Association (CEA), State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), and Connecticut Service Employee International Union State Council (CT SEIU State Council), launched a television and digital ad campaign this week focused on a people’s recovery budget rather than billionaire bail-outs. 

The ad campaign thanks workers for their sacrifices throughout COVID-19, pushes our state to lessen the burden on our working and middle class families and, finally, to tax the rich in Connecticut. 

Click here for the video link: bit.ly/TaxTheRichinCT 

"Workers have been at the forefront of innovative solutions to the unprecedented challenges that COVID has presented to us over the past several months,” Connecticut AFL-CIO President, Sal Luciano said, “They continue to sacrifice their health and safety while billionaires throughout our State have sat back and reap the rewards." 

Right now, Connecticut, the top 1 percent of earners in our state make about 37 times more than the bottom 99 percent of workers, making Connecticut the 3rd most unequal state in our country, and adding urgency to the labor coalition's message about fairness for working people.

"Our members rely on state services to get by and get ahead and that requires a tax system where everyone pays their fair share " said Juan Hernandez, Vice President of SEIU Local 32BJ.

"Tax fairness is about the future of every child in our public schools. Investing in public education provides a greater return to our economic prosperity than perpetuating an unfair tax system” added CEA President Jeff Leake. 

Council 4, which represents public and private sector employees, has long advocated for an end to regressive taxation. In May, our union participated in a coalition press conference calling for a pro-growth, pro-investment budget. 

“The COVID-19 crisis has caused tremendous economic damage to working families across Connecticut,” said Council 4 Secretary Stacie Harris-Byrdsong, who is president of AFSCME Local 3194, representing paraprofessionals, lead educators, oral interpreters and child care workers at the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC). “Now is the time for our wealthiest residents to step up and take up a greater share of the tax burden.”

“Throughout the pandemic front line workers have answered the call to service, risking the health and safety of not only themselves, but their loved ones at home as well, “ said Carl Chisem, President of Connecticut Employee Union Independent, Local 511. “All the while, billionaires throughout Connecticut continue to see pandemic profits. Billions of dollars that instead of being in the hands of the most vulnerable in the form of critical public services, is sitting in the bank accounts of the richest residents in our state."

The CEUI's Chisem added, "Connecticut doesn’t need more billionaire bailouts, we need a people’s recovery.”

This ad will continue to run on TV and digital platforms through the end of September.

To view the ad in its entirety, please visit bit.ly/TaxTheRichinCT.