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Connecticut long-term care workers lobby for $25 an hour by 2025

Rodney Wade, head of SEIU District 1199 New England flanked by Connecticut U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal at the long term care workers rally at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Tuesday February 7, 2023
Ebong Udoma
Rob Baril, president of 1199NE, flanked by Connecticut U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal at the long-term care workers rally at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Tuesday February 7, 2023

Unionized long-term care workers gathered at Connecticut’s Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Tuesday to demand higher wages.

They want to make a minimum of $25 an hour by 2025.

The state has a huge budget surplus, that’s why his members are demanding the wage hike ahead of Governor Ned Lamont’s budget presentation to lawmakers on Wednesday, said Rob Baril, president of SEIU District 1199 New England, the union that represents the workers.

“There’s nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the resources to end it,” Baril said.

About $700 million from the state’s surplus would pay for the wage hikes.

The 25,000 Connecticut long-term caregivers in 1199 are mostly Black and Latina. They work at nursing homes, group homes, and private homes. Their services are paid for with state and federal Medicaid dollars.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.