Press Releases
05/08/2018
Gov. Malloy Signs Law Providing Wage Increases for Workers Who Care for People with Disabilities
Legislation Helps Avert a Costly and Disruptive Strike by Workers
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(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy today announced that he has signed into law legislation that will provide wage increases for thousands of workers in Connecticut who care for people with intellectual disabilities at group homes and day programs.
The bill, which was negotiated by the administration and received final legislative approval late last week, helps avert a costly strike would have cost the state an estimated $1 million per day. The care workers planned to strike beginning on Monday, May 7, however it was called off following the legislature’s passage of the bill and the Governor’s pledge to sign it.
“We are grateful to the hardworking human services employees who provide care to our most vulnerable neighbors and for too long have been underpaid, especially considering the critical work they deliver,” Governor Malloy said. “These caregivers voiced their concerns and unified their efforts, and by working with our administration and the legislature, we were able to act.
“I particularly want to thank Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes for his efforts to cooperatively meet with these workers, hear their concerns, and develop a resolution that in the end avoided a strike and provides a much-need and long-overdue wage increase.”
“These aides and advocates are doing critical jobs that preserve our social safety net,” Lt. Governor Nancy Wyman said. “This legislation supports that work and ends more than a decade of waiting for meaningful action on wages. I join Governor Malloy in appreciating all of these caregivers, and thank them for their commitment to their clients and the families that depend on them.”
The legislation is House Bill 5460, An Act Concerning Minimum Employee Wages for Providers of State-Contracted Human Services.
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