SEIU 1199 President Rob Baril, center, and union members speak during a July rally at the Legislative Office Building. Connecticut’s largest health care workers’ union reached a tentative agreement this week, ending its two-month-long strike against a major provider of residential and other services for the developmentally disabled. More than 180 members of SEIU District 1199 New England must now vote on the tentative deal with Sunrise Northeast Inc., which operates 28 group home and day services programs spread across 17 communities in eastern and central Connecticut. They serve more than ..read more

Arielle Levin Becker :: CTMirror.org file photo Gian-Carl Casa, president and CEO of the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance The nonprofit network that delivers most state social services says the coronavirus pushed longstanding staffing woes into a crisis that is shrinking access for the disabled, abused children and others in need. And leaders of the CT Community Nonprofit Alliance and the legislature’s budget-writing panel say their ability to fully assess the crisis is being hindered by prolonged delays in getting state funding to community-based caregivers. To avoid closing behavioral heal ..read more

Rob Baril of District 1199 New England outlining a settlement and a new strike call. The union representing low-wage caregivers at private, non-profit group homes for the intellectually disabled in Connecticut struck a deal Wednesday with one owner and issued strike notices for two others. District 1199 New England, an SEIU affiliate, said the contract settled with Network Inc., which operates 26 group homes in the state, provides unprecedented raises and retirement and health benefits that the union hopes will become an industry template. The new deal and strike threats come as District 11 ..read more

Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org Kara Dwyer and other protestors with healthcare union SEIU 1199 in April. On Tuesday, the union threatened to strike at two nonprofits that operate dozens of group homes. State officials thought they’d dodged a political bullet last spring when they budgeted $184 million for the caregivers of Connecticut’s developmentally disabled — on the brink of a threatened strike. They were wrong. The state’s largest healthcare workers union announced Tuesday it would notify two nonprofits that operate dozens of group homes and day programs of plans to strike on Oct 5. They a ..read more

About 150 residents of Oak Hill School in Hartford were moved to nursing homes or other group homes by Thursday evening. At least two nonprofit social service agencies that serve developmentally disabled people on behalf of the state began relocating hundreds of clients Thursday in anticipation of a caregivers strike on Friday. Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration said talks with the state’s largest health care workers’ union remain positive, while nonprofit group home operators braced for a work stoppage. Related Stories Strike threat could push hundreds out of group homes and into nursing ho ..read more

Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org Dr. Michael Wolter remotely runs a Professional Skills Academy at Goodwin University in East Hartford. “You want to find a mentor at a workplace,” Dr. Wolter said. The workshop is a 4-week program. Before the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down, cities in Connecticut and across the country were coming back, but unevenly. Typically, downtowns were prospering, but some impoverished neighborhoods, usually home to communities of color, still struggled. The pandemic, as has been widely reported, made things worse, exposing and aggravating racial disparities ..read more

Oak Hill School in Hartford, the largest nonprofit agency serving the developmentally disabled. Hundreds of developmentally disabled group home residents, trapped in a game of state budget brinkmanship, could be transferred into nursing homes next Thursday unless that battle is resolved soon. At least two of the private, nonprofit agencies hired by the state to run group homes have begun plans to move clients into congregate care centers — or to send them to live with their families — if about 2,000 human service aides belonging to SEIU District 1199 New England go on strike next Friday. Un ..read more

Oak Hill School The state’s largest health care workers’ union has suspended plans to strike at more than 200 group homes Friday, citing progress with state officials in securing more funding for social service programs. Thursday’s announcement from SEIU District 1199 New England marks the second time a health care-related work stoppage was averted at the last minute. The union on May 13 shelved plans to strike the next day at 26 nursing homes across Connecticut. That suspension also was preceded by a pledge for increased state funding for health care services. “We look forward to discussio ..read more

Oak Hill School. Group home workers have threatened to strike. Connecticut’s largest health care workers’ union announced Friday that more than 2,000 group home staffers who serve the developmentally disabled and people suffering from mental illness or drug addiction plan to strike on May 21. The announcement by SEIU District 1199 New England comes just seven days before 3,400 of its member nursing home workers are set to hit the picket lines — a move that dramatically increases the pressure on state officials to increase public support for health care services. Union officials say negotiat ..read more

Gov. Ned Lamont plans to extend the state’s eviction moratorium until the public health emergency expires on May 20. The moratorium was set to expire at midnight, but a spokesman for the governor said Lamont intends to keep it in place as long as there is a public health emergency. “It is extended to whenever the emergency ends,” said Max Reiss. “It remains an important tool to keep Connecticut families in their homes during unprecedented circumstances.” It is not known at this point whether the governor will extend the moratorium past May 20 or, if he does allow it to expire, wheth ..read more