The News-Times

COVID-19 tensions could test unions’ loyalty to Lamont

- By Ken Dixon

The dependable link between unionized workers and Connecticu­t Democrats is being tested in 2022 as the resurgent COVID pandemic and two years of sometimes controvers­ial public health directives create political tension at the start of Gov. Ned Lamont’s campaign for a second four-year term.

Lamont isn’t likely to face a challenge to his party’s nomination from the union ranks or from any factions on the left, even as he hews to a middle ground on public health, tax policy and other issues. Still, the stress and anger among workers and union leaders raise a question that could become crucial in a close race in November.

Will some previously reliable Democratic voters in profession­s such as

teaching and nursing, overworked as the pandemic has surged and subsided, sit out Election Day without casting ballots, or even support a Republican challenger?

For now, ten months from the election, union leaders are not throwing their weight around with political threats. They’re trying to get through the omicron surge and the rising tally of hospitaliz­ations and absences forced by the highest positive COVID-19 test percentage­s we’ve seen yet.

“This is obviously a crisis beyond anything we have dealt with,” Rob Baril, president of District 1199NE SEIU, which represents 25,000 health care workers in Connecticu­t, said in a Saturday interview, speaking of the entire pandemic. “The health care work force is coming apart at the seams.”

Baril said his members are burning out and the state needs to invest more money in the workers who continue to work in the front lines as the worldwide virus starts its third year. There is a growing sense of futility as patients die, although certainly not at the rate of the spring of 2020.

“Absolutely, the federal government and the state government has put significan­t amounts of money into hazardous pay and supplement­al funding, but it is not enough,” Baril said. “The degree of despair cannot be overstated and we’ll see how those consequenc­es will play out in terms of elections. Talk all we want about ‘shared sacrifice’ and the value of essential workers. It’s no exaggerati­on to say a lot more is needed.”

‘Too important to play politics’

Many union leaders continue to praise Lamont and are likely to remind their members of Republican pledges in 2018 to renege on pension obligation­s. They will likely underscore the importance of supporting Lamont’s bid for a second term, even as the national picture for congressio­nal Democrats looks bad in the 2018 midterm elections.

Lamont will need a solid, union-backed turnout to defeat a high-profile Republican such as Themis Klarides, the former House minority leader in the General Assembly, who has filed preliminar­y campaign documents; or Bob Stefanowsk­i, who lost to Lamont in 2018 but is widely expected to try again.

In 2018, organized labor helped give Lamont the 694,510-to-650,138 vote victory over Stefanowsk­i in heavy, 65-percent turnout. Oz Griebel, who ran for governor as a Republican in 2010, staged an independen­t run, garnering 54,741 votes, without which Lamont may well have held a thinner margin.

Three-plus years later, some health care workers feel whipsawed by state mandates. State teachers, even those who agree with Lamont, are watching more and more kids come down with COVID infections. Teachers have been critical of Lamont’s handling of the pandemic and the pressure to keep in-school learning.

And parents of school kids may also let complaints on the handling of the pandemic carry over to the voting booths on Nov. 8.

Union leaders are dodging direct questions on the the election, as most say it’s too soon in the political cycle. On Dec. 9, the Connecticu­t State Building Trades Council became the first union to support a second term for Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.

CSBT President, Keith Brothers, president of the 30,000-member union, praised Lamont.

“They take the time to listen to our concerns and we can have a real conversati­on about how to get our industry moving again,” Brother said in announcing the endorsemen­t. “This election is too important to play politics.”

‘Teachers are not a monolith’

During a news conference last week on COVID protocols, educators from throughout the state complained about a lack of face masks and tests, as well as the mandatory combining of classes in cases where staff shortages hit school buildings.

Kate Dias, president of the Connecticu­t Education Associatio­n, and Shellye Davis, a paraprofes­sional in Hartford representi­ng the American Federation of Teachers, declined to say whether they would flex their political power and possibly threaten Lamont to get what they need.

“We’ve been talking with the governor and I think all of us are recognizin­g that we have to be working together,” Dias said. “I know that there has been a lot of conversati­on and a lot of sharing of plans and ideas. I think we really want to be mindful of how we approach this issue.”

“We’re here today to bring attention to the dangerous conditions at the schools, across the state,” Davis said. “We’re not here to discuss Gov. Lamont’s campaign. Right now our priority has to be ensuring safety for the staff and communitie­s.”

Teachers have an overall commitment to keeping schools open for academic, social and mental-health reasons, despite the notable increase in COVID infections among students, said Bob Smoler, president of the 1,000-member Fairfield Education Associatio­n, in an interview on Saturday.

“Everybody is a little bit dissatisfi­ed with everything,” said Smoler, a veteran math teacher at Fairfield Warde High School. “But I don’t think there is anything so big that it would change the way people vote. Teachers are not a monolith. We have Democrats, Republican­s and independen­ts. I don’t see anything going on right now that would change peoples’ views. We’re all looking forward to a lessscary environmen­t.”

‘We’re going to evaluate’

Ed Hawthorne, president of the 200,000-member AFL-CIO umbrella organizati­on of state unions, also downplayed the importance of the election at this point in the calendar.

During a news conference last week held in conjunctio­n with the public rollout of a new state benefit for essential workers who may be eligible for $34 million in relief - including $3,000 funeral payments for families of people who have died in the pandemic - Hawthorne was asked whether unionized workers resort to their election clout.

“We’re going to evaluate,” Hawthorne said during the event, which was led by State Comptrolle­r Natalie Braswell on her first day at work after former Comptrolle­r Kevin Lembo resigned with health issues.

“We have our process and everyone will have their say,” Hawthorne added. “I know people are frustrated a little bit with the new guidance and it’s something that we’re working with our affiliates to address and make sure that everyone works in a safe environmen­t.”

That concern over health measures emerges over and over in conversati­ons with the people who represent front-line workers.

“The labor movement often talks about pay, pension and healthcare but what’s often overlooked is safety and the the mostimport­ant thing is coming home safe to your family,” Hawthorne said. “So it’s something we’re working actively with the governor’s office.”

As the pandemic heads into its third year, the fatigue is palpable, Hawthorne said. “One thing I can applaud the governor for is trying to get those masks out,” he said. “I know it’s been a struggle to get some of the supplies out, but he has been trying to get those essential personal protective equipment out to the people that need it the most: those people on the front lines. There are some good things that the governor is really trying to do.”

“I think we need to look back the two years,” said state Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, a former highrankin­g union leader who was on the same call with reporters and quickly responded to the potential gravity of the political moment.

“I think the legislatur­e, the governor’s office, everyone really pulled together and worked incredibly hard to keep the population safe,” she said. “Is there more we should be able to do? Yes. But we also have to look at the accomplish­ments and remember that we’ve done so much to save lives in this state.”

Kushner, as co-chairwoman of the legislativ­e Labor Committee, helped write the essential workerbene­fit law, which took effect Jan. 1.

“People have such shortterm memories because just a few months ago, Connecticu­t was doing the best in the nation in terms of vaccinatio­n rates and our record-low positivity rate,” she said.

Union contracts will be key

The Lamont administra­tion is currently in the end game of extensive contract negotiatio­ns with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition, known as SEBAC, which represents about 30 state employee unions. The outcome of those talks as the General Assembly debates the expected agreements this winter and spring will weigh heavily on the elections.

COVID fatigue is a national issue, and if Lamont is to win again, he and union leaders will have to highlight his record in ways that average voters can understand, said Gayle Alberda, a political science professor at Fairfield University.

“He needs to explain it more than he might normally do,” Alberda said Friday, stressing the importance of union endorsemen­ts.

In late October, Lamont told the state’s unions that he is their friend. On Friday, his campaign reaffirmed what it hopes is a solid relationsh­ip.

“We in Connecticu­t are incredibly proud of the men and women in the labor movement who keep our state moving forward — creating jobs, teaching our children, and keeping our communitie­s safe,” a spokesman for the Lamont campaign said. “Gov. Lamont is focused on governing and not on politics, and we are proud to work with our partners in the labor community, from our teachers to our nurses to our carpenters, as we focus on getting COVID tests to cities and towns across the state, ensuring that schools are safe and open, and keeping our economy moving for working people.”

 ?? H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Kate Dias, a math teacher, is president of the Connecticu­t Education Associatio­n teachers union.
H John Voorhees III / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Kate Dias, a math teacher, is president of the Connecticu­t Education Associatio­n teachers union.

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