1199 members demonstrated unbreakable unity in a historic vote on our contract – 3,655 yes votes to 17 no votes (over 99.5% yes). Now, the legislature must debate and then vote on the contract this month.

Our opposition is already working to overturn this agreement. The Yankee Institute hosted a briefing for legislators attacking our contract.

Legislators need to hear the truth from us: our services save lives. The retirement tsunami and the staffing crisis threatens the services people depend on. We know that since the civil rights movement, public sector jobs have driven the most upward mobility for Black and brown people and women.

The legislature will be debating and voting on this contract in the middle of an unprecedented crisis of need for services. The mental health crisis, the opioid epidemic, the housing crisis, and the pandemic has devastated our communities and the people we serve. These crises hit all of us and have hit Black and brown communities in our state the hardest.

The legislature will be debating and voting on our contract in the middle of a staffing crisis. The cuts to staffing and programs over the last 15 years have caused a historic staffing crisis in our agencies. We have over 1,800 healthcare vacancies across our agencies. And hundreds of people are waiting to receive addiction treatment as units are shuttered due to short staffing. Children are toiling in emergency rooms waiting for treatment while DCF Solnit staff are running at half capacity.

The legislature will be debating and voting on our contract in the middle of a retirement tsunami, threatening the very existence of our life saving services. There are 1,500 people eligible to retire in 2022. However, the State has utterly failed to hire workers with urgency. In 2020 and 2021, the state lost 1298 state healthcare workers and only hired 726 new staff – a 56% rate.

We must use the next month to set the terms of the debate based on the current reality of this crisis and push our demands even further. This contract is a necessary and important step toward recruiting and retaining staff to provide services. The Governor and the Legislature not only need to pass our contract, but they need to move with urgency and commitment to fill vacancies and expand services to save lives – as a matter of racial, economic, and social justice.

Our DEMANDS: Expand Services to Save Lives

1. Legislature must approve the 1199 contract.

2. Lamont must publicly commit to refilling all 3,300 vacancies to Save and Expand Services to Save Lives as a matter of racial and economic justice.

3. Legislature must pass the auto-refill staffing, racial justice, and hero pay legislation

We need every member to contact their legislators and tell them to approve our contract to help protect public services and address the staffing crisis.

After you submit the email, follow up with a phone call and leave a message at their office. Click here to look up the number for your local state legislator.