A pay hike for about 12,000 unionized home care workers in Connecticut has won the approval of a key state legislative committee.
The Lamont administration negotiated the pay hike.
The Appropriations Committee voted to endorse the contract mainly along party lines on Thursday.
The minority Republicans, including Senator Eric Berthel of Watertown, voted no.
He claimed the increased pay is unfair to workers at non-unionized home care agencies.
“They would need to have a 25% increase in order to have parity and not lose employees from the agency side,” Berthel said.
Democrats, including co-chair Representative Toni Walker of New Haven, argued that increased wages for unionized workers would put pressure on other workers to be paid more.
“All of us can succeed if we all stick together and say quality of life starts here,” Walker said, as she urged her colleagues to support the contract.
The agreement with the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199 SEIU, boosts pay for about 80% of the workers to $23 an hour over three years.
The agreement now goes to the House and Senate for a floor vote on Monday.
