Connecticut workers and activists have
rallied twice recently in solidarity withealh the struggling union
members and their supporters in Wisconsin, Ohio and across the
country. A rally on Feb. 23 drew 500 people to the state capitol
building in Hartford. Over 400 attended a similar rally on Feb. 26,
also at the capitol. Demonstrators held signs reading, “Solidarity
with Wisconsin,” “A Union Job for Every Worker” and
chanted “Tax the rich” and “Hey hey, ho ho, corporate
welfare’s got to go.”
Those in attendance represented a
number of unions across the state, many of whom are facing cuts
themselves. Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy is calling for billions of dollars
in concessions from public-sector unions as part of his latest budget
proposal.
Malloy has also proposed cuts to the
Connecticut Independent College Student Grant program, which provides
money to students attending colleges in the state. The proposed
budget would cut the program’s funding 25 percent of the current
total in fiscal years 2012 and 2013. The cuts would result in 1,523
students not receiving the grant in 2012, and 3,058 in 2013.
The proposal would consolidate a number
of state government agencies and cut their combined budgets. Among
medical assistance and social service programs, 150 state jobs would
be cut and $2 billion in cutbacks will be demanded from state
workers in their salary, pension and health care benefits.
In addition to the budget cuts,
Malloy’s proposal calls for an increase in the state sales tax, the
gasoline tax, and new or increased taxes on goods and services like
hair cuts, alcohol, driver’s licenses and car registrations, car
washes and non-prescription drugs. The statewide exemption on taxes
on clothing and shoes under $50 would also be abolished. These are
all taxes that will hit working and poor people the hardest.
On March 19, people from across
Connecticut will rally and march in New Haven against war,
occupation, anti-worker policies and budget cuts. The rally will
begin at 12 noon on the Green, at Church St. and Elm St., and demand:
U.S. out of Iraq and Afghanistan now! Money for jobs and education,
not for war and occupation!
