Sec.-Treas. Saunders and Rev. Sharpton Stand Up for Public Services in Connecticut
March 17, 2011
Standing Up for Public Servicers – AFSCME Sec.-Treas. Lee A. Saunders and civil rights leader, Rev. Al Sharpton led hundreds of AFSCME members and allies in New Haven, Conn., to protest Mayor DeStefano’s drastic budget cuts
Photo Credit: Stacy McCarthy
New Haven, Conn. – AFSCME Sec.-Treas. Lee A. Saunders and civil rights leader, Rev. Al Sharpton fired up union members and their supporters during a rally in New Haven, Conn., to fight against Mayor John DeStefano’s budget cuts.
“Mayor DeStefano is taking his strategies from the same playbook these other politicians are using,” Saunders told the 500-strong crowd at First and Summerfield United Methodist Church. “And it goes like this: Blame budget problems on working people instead of the real source – the Wall Street barons who wrecked our economy and then got off scot-free.”
Saunders and Sharpton are travelling across the country to fight against the coordinated attack on public employees and the services they provide. Their visit comes in the midst of DeStefano’s attempts to drastically cut public services while balancing a $5.5 million gap in the current fiscal year’s budget on the backs of workers.
After the speech, city workers represented by AFSCME Council 4 and other union members and activists marched down to City Hall. Many of them sported their AFSCME green and carried signs stating “We Make New Haven Work!” and “Privatize DeStefano.”
Invoking allegedly high pension and health care benefit costs, DeStefano recently laid off 96 city workers, including 16 police officers represented by AFSCME Local 530 (Council 15). The decision garnered harsh criticism from local citizens concerned about their safety and the fact that, according to FBI statistics, New Haven is the 18th most violent city in the country.
Eleven city contracts will expire on June 30, and DeStefano is asking for concessions while refusing to negotiate. AFSCME members have promised to keep up the fight until the mayor does what’s right.
As Saunders said, “We believe in sacrificing for the greater good. But we believe those sacrifices must be shared by everybody – from the top to the bottom. We are standing to tell John DeStefano that what he’s doing is wrong.”
For more news coverage and video of the event, check out this New Haven Register story.
