Last Thursday's
Connecticut Supreme Court hearing in the case of a union voice for State Police commissioned officers captured the attention of the news media and the candidates who seek to replace Governor M. Jodi Rell. After all, the four-year long legal battle the governor's Administration has waged against our CSPCOA Council members is not just about respecting workers; it's also about the
safety of the public they serve.
Our Union's Legal Counsel Bob Krzys addressed the Administration's claims in their appeal of the 2008 Superior Court ruling upholding collective bargaining rights for lieutenants and captains in the Department of Public Safety. As we repeated in the
statement we issued Friday, their case does not hold water and should be rejected.
Potential gubernatorial
candidate Rudy Marconi was the first to issue a statement of support for CSPCOA Council members last week. He pointed to the legal opinions and rulings over the past four years that back up their election to join our union in
his press release.
Exploratory
candidate Juan Figueroa also addressed the importance of respecting employees' free choice to form a union in the
statement he issued the next day.
The public safety concerns that have resulted since the current governor first refused to recognize a voice on the job for State Police lieutenants and captains were raised by exploratory
candidate Dan Malloy and declared
candidate Ned Lamont.
Malloy's statement was the first to address the vacancies in command staff positions and connect them to the Administration's court battle.
Lamont's statement echoed these concerns, and he accused the current Administration of "playing politics" with public safety.
News coverage of the hearing over the past week has been extensive, and much of it is available online:
A
set at our photo gallery was posted with pictures of CSPCOA Council and CSC members, as well as our allies in the Connecticut State Police Union, gathered outside the Supreme Court chambers after the hearing.
While the dispute is in the hands of the six justices who heard oral arguments last Thursday, the public debate over the Administration's waste of taxpayer money to fight a losing court case continues. Weigh-in on the discussion by sending a letter to the
editor of the Hartford Courant and call on the governor to drop the case now rather than wait for the state's highest court to tell her to respect public service workers:
Posted by:
Matt OConnor on 2/16/2010 at 4:50:00 PM