‘Sick and tired of being ignored’
Hundreds of workers at group homes across the state have voted to authorize a strike next month
Hundreds of workers at group homes and day programs for people with developmental disabilities plan to walk off the job next month after negotiations over pay and benefits stalled, said the union representing them.
“Our members are sick and tired of being ignored,’’ said Jesse Martin, an official with SEIU District 1199 New England. “The clients need staff to care for them with dignity … and we have taken an overwhelming strike vote at all of these agencies.”
Unionized care workers at group homes, nursing homes and other facilities have endorsed a “Long term Care Workers Bill of Rights” that calls for a $20 hourly wage, a pension and lower cost health insurance.
The workers have voted to strike on Oct. 5 at 6 a.m., SEIU leaders said. Group homes will be notified on Tuesday.
The threat comes more than three months after the state authorized a $184 million funding package to raise pay and increase benefits at group homes across Connecticut. Despite that, union officials say talks have now collapsed between the union and two group home operators: Whole
Life Inc. and Network Inc.
Industry representatives have said that the state has underfunded homes for years. The agreement, reached in June and brokered by two top aides to Gov. Ned Lamont, was supposed to address that.
“The state of Connecticut stepped up and provided funding that was adequate,’’ said Rob Baril, president of the union. “Now it’s time for the agencies to do the same.’’
“This is a workforce that truly does God’s work,’’ Baril said, “taking care of folks with developmental disabilities … it is a Medicaid population, so by definition, the clients themselves are poor people, and they are disabled.”
The insurer also said its offices are likely to be reshaped to accommodate work areas that are shared by workers.
Thermansen stressed that Travelers isn’t moving any of its 6,000 employees in downtown Hartford out of the city.
Even when Travelers moves out of leased space, it is still responsible for paying the rent unless it can sublease the space. Subleasing, however, can push down asking rents when tenants move out of spaces before their leases are up. They can competitively undercut what a building owner is asking for similar space in the same building.
According to sources familiar with the local real estate market, Travelers now leases about 210,000 square feet at the Gold Building. Recently, the co-owners of the
office tower signed two leases: one for 47,000 with Sun Life Financial and another for 17,800 insurance and benefits broker Assuredpartners.
“Travelers has substantial lease obligations at the Gold Building until 2025 and we are confident based on our current leasing activity that we will backfill the spaces as Travelers formally notifies us of any consolidations,” Jane Davey, director of acquisitions and asset management at Hartford-based LAZ Investments, said Monday. LAZ Investments and Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC of Brooklyn, N.Y. own the office tower.
At State House Square, general manager David Jakubowski said Travelers is moving out of 55,000 square feet where the lease runs out in mid-2025 and the insurer is seeking to sublease it. Another larger, 160,000 square feet space, which houses Travelers bond unit, will remain occupied. That lease expires in late 2024.
“Over the past couple of years, we have been moving some employees from State House Square into the owned buildings of our main campus,” Thermansen said. “Approximately 500 employees will remain in that building for now.”
In addition, sources said Travelers leases 60,000 square feet at the Boat Building.
The downsizing of office space in markets around the country, including Hartford, could make it a rough go emerging from the pandemic. But some commercial real estate brokers in Hartford said they are cautiously optimistic that recent leases — including Hartford Healthcare’s at 100 Pearl St. — will offset some of the space shed by Travelers.
“Most people that haven’t returned to their offices yet will eventually — at least on a hybrid work schedule — and that will ultimately bode well for the overall health of the downtown Hartford office market,” Larry Levere, director of office brokerage at Sentry Commercial in Hartford, said.