The latest episode featured a conversation highlighting the advantages that a strong labor-management relationship can have on working conditions and student learning. Local union leader Lauren Mancini-Averitt joined AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel to co-host a thoughtful discussion with her school district's superintendent on their collaborative, solution-driven approach.

Dr. Mark Benigni shared examples of what has been accomplished for Meriden’s students and their families by embracing labor as partners rather than as adversaries. He also answered questions about innovative educational strategies developed in concert with national, state and local teachers union leaders that have directly benefited rank-and-file members.

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future episode. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on a future episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet. 

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website. 

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

Building on an uprising of momentum to grow the labor movement was the focus of delegates this summer attending state and national union conventions. AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel was joined by local union leader Monika Nugent as co-host for a conversation with a leader and an activist engaged in coffee industry organizing efforts.

Richard Bensinger is a long-time labor veteran and currently advising Starbucks Workers United, which has since last fall supported a surge of more than 200 union election victories nationwide. Marc Tomko is a barista at the second of the chain’s Connecticut shops where employees have successfully organized for a voice on the job. Together they shared their experience mobilizing the coffee giant's workforce and galvanizing its customers to write a brand new chapter in American labor history. 

Sign and share the Starbucks Workers United "No Contract, No Coffee! Pledge."

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future episode. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on a future episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website. 

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel and Legislative/Political Action Chair Ally Sexton team up once again to co-host the latest episode in the state federation's podcast series. Their conversation centers on gains made during the recently-concluded 2022 session of the General Assembly - and looks ahead to legislative and constitutional officer elections later this year.

Their guest is state Rep. Joshua Hall, a long-time educator, former union leader and lawmaker elected in 2017 on AFT Connecticut's "labor is your neighbor" platform. He answers questions about key public policy wins at the legislature and offers sound advice for members on engaging in electoral politics - both as activists and as candidates themselves.

Learn more about the book Representative Hall references, "House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City."

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future episode. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on a future episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website.

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel is once again joined by local union leader Sherri Dayton for a relevant conversation on legislative proposals impacting healthcare professionals currently before the General Assembly. Together they co-host an episode focused on initiatives that would help achieve safe patient care and to hold health chains accountable for gutting vital services.

Joining them to offer the perspective of both a lawmaker and an advocate is state Rep. Jillian Gilchrist, the House vice chair of the legislature's public health committee. She illuminates union members on the role of direct activism in making systemic changes within an increasingly corporatized healthcare industry. Additionally she suggests concrete steps for improving working conditions and protecting access to care in the closing weeks of the General Assembly's 2022 session. 

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future episode. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on a future episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website.

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

Resisting repeated attempts by special interests to privatize the services public employees provided to residents and businesses was the topic of discussion in this latest podcast episode. AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel was joined by local union leader Bill Garrity, RN, as co-host for a conversation aimed at debunking the mythical claims of outscoring schemes.  

Their guest was opinion leader and responsible contracting activist Donald Cohen. The founder of the national policy center In the Public Interest shared insights on the issues he and his co-author gathered for their latest book, "The Privatization of Everything."

Copies or access to an e-book version can be purchased online. 

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on either episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website.

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

This first episode in a series on the topic of protecting educators' "freedom to teach" addressed current special interest-funded attempts to politicize U.S. history, civics and social studies. State federation president Jan Hochadel was joined by Connecticut Education Association (CEA) President Kate Dias and Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) Executive Director Fran Rabinowitz to lead the conversation.

Joining them was U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, who coordinated a local discussion on the issue at a round-table forum with educators, students and parents in Middletown. He answered members' questions on what has emerged as a national campaign by anti-public education forces to divide communities along racial lines.

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on either episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website.

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

The latest episode's topic of conversation centered on our state federation's commitment to lifting up paraeducators and school-related personnel - before, during and after the pandemic. Local union leader Shellye Davis joined AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel to co-host a timely discussion with the co-chair of the legislature's Education Committee.

State Representative Bobby Sanchez reviewed lawmakers' efforts earlier this year to resolve ongoing health and safety concerns and invest in recruiting the public school personnel who support student learning. He also answered members' questions about a new law that aims to address the challenge of recruiting and retaining paraeducators in historically under-resourced communities.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on either episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website.

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

Community-based efforts to restore labor and delivery services at a small, rural hospital eliminated by the health network that owns it were the focus for this latest podcast episode. AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel was joined by local union leader Sherri Dayton, RN, as co-host for a conversation with a long-time civil rights advocate and retired labor activist.

Leah Ralls was for more than two decades a union member and currently serves as president of the NAACP's Windham/Willimantic chapter. She shared her experience teaming up with local caregivers, labor leaders and elected officials to mobilize the community to resist Hartford HealthCare (HHC)'s closure of their community hospital’s maternity ward.  

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future episode. * 

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on a future episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website.   

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

Ongoing efforts to negotiate successor collective bargaining agreements for state employees is the primary focus of this latest episode in our podcast series. AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel was joined by executive committee vice president and local union leader Kathy Fischer for a timely discussion now that most individual unit contracts have expired. 

Returning as their guest was state Representative Mike D’Agostino, who addressed the current negotiations and provided relevant historical context from a lawmakers' perspective. He also discussed policy proposals passed in the General Assembly’s 2021 legislative session that impact state employees and the public services they deliver.

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future episode. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on a future episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website.

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.

The latest podcast episode features a discussion of public policy achievements secured by union members during the Connecticut General Assembly's regular 2021 session. State Federation President Jan Hochadel was joined by Chris DeFrancesco, a leader and activist with an affiliated local union recently recognized for his legislative advocacy, to co-host the conversation.

Their guest was State Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, who answered members' questions about several priority bills passed by lawmakers and since signed by the governor. He also addressed future issues, including ongoing efforts aimed at generating stable revenues to preserve public services, as well as state employee union contract negotiations.

AFT Connecticut's podcasts serve to provide a deeper dive into issues impacting members and the wider labor movement as part of the state federation's engagement and communications programs.

Members are encouraged to send e-mail with their questions or concerns to be addressed in a future. *

Additionally, members can leave a message with their comments to be played on either episode by dialing (860) 257-9782 and and entering extension 116. *

We're proud to be part of the Labor Radio/Podcast Network, which collectively gets our movement's message out to working people via the Internet.

Breaking news, event announcements, and urgent actions are also posted at the union's Twitter feed, Facebook page and website.

* Be sure to include your full name, local union and employer.