State Workers: Leading for Telecommuting

State Workers: Leading for Telecommuting

"One Thing" We All Can Do!

The State needs more than words on paper – it's time to act now and adopt a real telecommuting policy for its 50,000-member workforce!
Stephen AndersonSupervising Air Pollution Control Engineer,
CT Dept. of Environmental Protection
Steward, P-4 Council

With prices at the gas pump hitting records each week, and with the problems associated with global warming becoming more apparent each year, it is vital for Connecticut to cut back on the amount of fuel it uses and the amount of greenhouse gas it releases.

Governor Rell has called on private industry to encourage more telecommuting. But her shortsighted State managers opposed a bill in the 2008 legislative session that would expand and improve options for their workforce. With SEIU and our members' grassroots support, the State Senate passed the bill, though the clock ran out before the House could vote on it.

Which is why our union took the lead on this important issue and launched a public relations campaign to pressure Governor Rell to implement the bill's improvements without the legislation. Three months after the session ended, with gas prices sailing past $4.00 a gallon, she responded and pledged to make the State lead by example on telecommuting!