Working people around the world are feeling the weight of overlapping crises fueled by powerful international corporations bent on undermining unions; growing inequality, a changing climate and increasing political violence. Last month, AFT Connecticut leaders participated in a regional approach to building a more just, prosperous and democratic future for all. The event was a unique opportunity to build solidarity, share best practices and learn from other activists within the Inter-American labor movement.

Just days after the 2024 General Election here in the United States, AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel (speaking in photo, above) and former Vice President for Public Employees Michael Barry traveled to Bogotá, Colombia. They were joined by more than 400 labor leaders, from northern Canada to the southern tip of Chile, for Public Services International (PSI)’s 13th Inter-American Regional Conference (IAMRECON).

For the last five years, Hochadel has co-chaired PSI’s Inter-American Regional Executive Committee (IAMREC). In this role, she convened North American meetings, represented our nation on its executive board and met with the global federation’s staff. She was front and center at this conference: facilitating multiple panels, delivering remarks on key issues for public sector unions and co-chairing the IAMREC meeting.

Click here for our previous report on Hochadel’s leadership in the global federation of public employee unions.

The AFT delegation also included Wayne Spence, who serves alongside Hochadel on our national union’s executive committee as a vice president at-large. The divisional director for public employees, Jennifer Porcari, provided staff support.

The delegation had the opportunity to meet, build solidarity with and learn valuable lessons from colleagues representing the diversity of the region’s labor movement. They included the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center, Canada’s National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), Colombia’s Sindicato Nacional de Empleados de la Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales (SINEDAN), among others.

The agenda of the five-day conference was informed by a five-year program of action adopted in 2023 by affiliates to PSI’s global congress. The adopted plan is based on the federation’s vision of a better world that includes empowering working peoples to achieve inclusive societies, gender equality, respect and dignity for all.

Click here for the full 2024 IAMRECON agenda.

Prior to the conference’s convening, Hochadel co-chaired a full day Sub-regional Advisory Committee (SUBRAC) meeting with more than two dozen of PSI’s delegates and its general secretary. Most of the morning was focused on Donald J. Trump’s return to the White House and his administration’s likely impact on working people in the U.S. and across the Inter-American region.

Delegates also discussed a plan of action for the region, including how PSI can effectively disseminate bargaining language on a variety of topics of mutual interest. From tackling workplace violence to limiting technology’s harmful impacts to expanding sectoral negotiations, delegates embraced an approach to empowerment through shared experience.

The first day of the conference featured a variety of committee meetings, each tackling a range of issues. Hochadel additionally presented on the many ways labor unions across North America are taking on the challenges of predictive artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic management.

Click here for the resolution passed by delegates to the 2024 AFT national convention on AI.

“We have been in a constant state of intense technological change for more than 25 years, and it has impacted almost every aspect of public service,” Hochadel told delegates. “That’s why we need a three-pronged focus for addressing our new technological reality; at the bargaining table, in the halls of government and in partnership with companies like Microsoft.”

Hochadel added that labor leaders must secure broad contract language to ensure a seat at the table for negotiating the impact of technological changes well before they are implemented. She additionally highlighted the value of public policy advocacy, encouraging unions to craft legislative language and engage members in grassroots lobbying.

“By having influence in these discussions, our union members can become strong partners in building and supporting effective public services,” she concluded.

Click here for national reporting on legislative efforts to hold businesses accountable to ethical AI practices.

At the end of IAMRECON, Hochadel stepped down from her position as IAMREC co-chair, but will continue to serve on the PSI executive board representing the U.S.

Editor’s note: photo credit to Christopher Aefre, AFT; additional contributions from Rachel Anderson and Jenn Porcari, AFT.

The post Sharing Best Practices for “Building and Supporting Effective Public Services” first appeared on AFT Connecticut.

The strength of our state’s labor movement was on full display when the election ballots were tallied here in Connecticut. An unprecedented “Get Out the Vote” effort propelled union-endorsed incumbents and challengers to victory in Congress and the General Assembly. The results bucked national trends, empowering members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated locals and our labor allies to inspire further organizing wins here at home and across the country.

Of the 101 candidates for federal and state legislative offices endorsed by our state federation’s executive committee, 88 won their respective races. That meant all six members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation up for re-election will return to Washington, D.C. next year. It also resulted in “veto-proof” majorities of pro-worker lawmakers in both chambers of the state legislature beginning in January.

“The outcome here in Connecticut showed what moves people to the polls,” said Ally Sexton, the chair of our state federation’s legislative/political action committee (LPAC). “Voters circled the oval for candidates who ran as champions for working families. It shows how a message of broad economic prosperity builds enthusiasm and wins campaigns,” she added.

Click here for press reporting on the results of the 2024 General Election in Connecticut.

Even more impressive were the outcomes for endorsed union activists who themselves ran for legislative office on the “labor is your neighbor” platform. Eighty-seven percent were victorious – including all eight of the members of AFT Connecticut-affiliated locals who stepped up to serve in the General Assembly.

They were carried to victory in large part by the scores of activists who volunteered to be part of the Connecticut AFL-CIO’s “2024 Labor Votes” campaign. Members of our state federation’s affiliates completed nearly 500 shifts canvassing union households, making phone calls and writing postcards between Labor Day and November 5th.

“Our members understood the assignment, did their homework and deserve extra credit for a job well done,” said AFT Connecticut Vice President John Brady, RN. “We weren’t alone – our labor siblings here at home and nationally really stepped up to get out the vote this year. I’m proud of our contribution to what was clearly a bright spot among the mixed overall outcomes across the country,” he added.

Click here for national reporting on the wider movement’s significant efforts during the 2024 General Election.

In Connecticut alone, union activists knocked on over 50,000 doors and made over 13,000 phone calls to their labor siblings over the nine week campaign. The unprecedented level of participation sets up a unique opportunity for our state’s movement to build on this year’s election successes through 2026.

It also serves as a beacon to uplift a historic wave of support for new union organizing that has swept the U.S. in recent years. The latest Gallup poll found that seven in 10 Americans support strengthening labor unions and that disapproval is at a historic six-decade low.

“The rest of the nation is counting on us to continue leading the way toward a better future for working people,” said AFT Connecticut President Jan Hochadel (second from left, in photo, above). “Everyone deserves a path to achieving the American dream. Here in Connecticut, we must continue showing that choosing ‘Union YES’ is the most effective means for doing so,” she added.

Click here for a full General Election report on AFT Connecticut-endorsed candidates.

The post “Leading the Way Toward a Better Future for Working People” first appeared on AFT Connecticut.

The murder of a home care nurse last fall cast a painful spotlight on the escalating risks facing health professionals. Our national union recently sat down with two veteran AFT Connecticut-affiliated local leaders who have been sounding the alarm for decades. Sherri Dayton, APRN, president of our Backus Federation of Nurses (left in graphic, above) and Martha Marx, RN (right, above), former VNASC Federation of RNs & HHAs president, shared real solutions for reversing “jaw-dropping rates of workplace violence:”

AFT HEALTH CARE EDITORS: What brought you into nursing, and how have your work and your activism shifted over the years?

SHERRI DAYTON: I was in and out of the hospital for the first couple of years of my life, and I had such kind healthcare professionals and nurses taking care of me. When my preschool teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I immediately knew the answer: I wanted to be a nurse.

I started as a certified nursing assistant; after working as a home health aide, I became a patient care technician. In 2006, I got my associate degree as a nurse. Eventually I got my BSN online, and last year I finished a master’s degree so I can work as an advanced practice registered nurse. I practice at a primary care facility now, but I’ve stayed on with the Backus Federation of Nurses as a retiree so I can continue as president and train the next generation.

Click here for our national union’s previous interview with Dayton.

Over my career, I’ve seen terrible changes in healthcare, mostly related to the increasing pressure healthcare corporations put on health professionals to care for more patients with fewer resources. We’re chronically understaffed, and we have more patients as baby boomers age but fewer places to put them because healthcare organizations continue to close “unprofitable” departments and facilities. We’re already seeing people on their worst days, and longer wait times and stressful conditions for both patients and healthcare professionals push tensions higher and higher – and eventually people crack. That’s how we got to where we are today, with jaw-dropping rates of workplace violence for healthcare workers.

MARTHA MARX: I’ve been a nurse for almost 40 years. My mother died when I was a senior in high school, after a long sickness. I did a lot of her caregiving, and it made me feel good to be able to help. That’s why I went into nursing, and if I had to do it all over again, I would make the same choice. I just love what I do.

After I got my BSN, I started in pediatric oncology, and then hospice care. I transitioned to contract-based home healthcare in 1998 because my kids were school age and I wanted as much flexibility as possible. I joined the union, the VNASC (Visiting Nurse Association of Southeastern Connecticut) Federation of RNs & HHAs, as soon as I could. A few months later, when there was an opening, I agreed to run for president.

Click here for a previous report spotlighting Marx’s labor, community and civic leadership.

I loved being union president, but working in home care is what eventually pushed me into politics. I saw how health policies weren’t working for patients or workers, and I wanted to fix it. For example, the state wants to keep elderly people out of nursing homes because it’s cheaper, but we’re doing it on the backs of homemakers and companions – mostly women of color – who are providing in-home non medical care for next to nothing.

I first ran for New London City Council in 2015, and I won. Since then, I’ve lost a lot of elections – including council reelection and state Senate twice – but I didn’t let those losses stop me. In 2021, I won my council seat back, and in 2022, I won my Senate seat.

Workplace violence is on the rise. What have you seen and experienced?

MARX: I’ve been talking about workplace violence for 20 years as a home care nurse and as a union president. The norms of care are so different for us- we’re working with patients in their homes, and we don’t have any control over our environment. We’ve requested escorts when we didn’t feel safe, but mostly we haven’t been taken seriously.

Click here for a recent federal health and human services agency report on the issue.

The dangers we face became headline news in October 2023, when nurse Joyce Grayson was murdered while doing a medication admin visit. That tragedy brought a lot of attention to the crisis and promises of better protection, but little actually changed at work in the aftermath.

In December 2023, I was sent to visit a man who was recovering from surgery. I knew he had a history of opioid use disorder and had been on methadone, and I saw a crack pipe underneath his nightstand. That doesn’t automatically mean he’s dangerous – but changing his bandage was taking a long time, and I could tell that he was escalating, so I finished as quickly as I could. At the office, when I opened his medical record to get his prescriptions refilled, I saw that not even a month before his recent surgery, he’d had to be medically restrained in the emergency department (ED) because he had bitten the security guard and threatened to come back and shoot everyone. And there I had been, alone with him in his house, sitting on his bed.

Click here for press reporting following Grayson’s murder that quotes Marx on caregiver safety concerns.

Management was supposed to be doing safety assessments. Why didn’t they check his history? They apologized profusely, and since then they’ve sent two people together to that patient. But a few months later, they sent me to another patient who should have been flagged but wasn’t. When I asked about it, management blamed their faulty internet. I don’t see a lot of patients when the Senate is in session, but that’s two times in five months that management has made it clear that my safety isn’t their priority.

My colleagues all have similar or worse stories. One home health aide, a Dominican woman, had an angry patient tell her that he was going to put her in a barrel and ship her down a river back to the country she came from. When she reported it, management said, “we called him and he says he really likes you, so you should keep seeing him.”

DAYTON: We all have these stories. I’ve been hit, kicked, spit at, threatened, pushed, had bodily fluids thrown at me. I’ve had my life threatened. I’ve been sexually harassed and touched inappropriately.

Click here for reporting earlier this year on our members’ healthcare worker safety advocacy.

As a coworker, and as a union president, I’ve also witnessed many horrific things. I’ve seen patients come in with guns, knives, or drug paraphernalia that can cause injuries, like needles or glass pipes. I’ve seen security guards get their hair pulled out and nurses get punched in the face. I’ve had members get concussions that cause horrible migraines for months, and others who got flipped by patients and had to have shoulder surgery. The physical injuries eventually heal. But worse is people who acquire post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after being assaulted and are never able to return to a profession they loved. Prior to COVID-19, almost 21 percent of nurses met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. I’m sure that number is higher now.

Violence drives people out of the profession in multiple ways, and we already have high turnover rates. In all my years, I’ve never seen so many nurses fresh out of nursing school leave not just a job but the profession in the first five years. They put in all the hard work to earn an RN but walk away because it’s not worth it. They get less stressful jobs waiting tables or in retail. I know one nurse who became a truck driver.

How have you tried to address the issue over the years?

DAYTON: The existing workplace violence law in Connecticut requires each hospital to have a committee that meets regularly. In my hospital, it’s a subcommittee of the safety committee. We were doing sweeps where we’d visit different floors and talk to the staff. We also reviewed instances of violence to find trends and do root-cause analysis. That all stopped when COVID-19 hit, and we’ve never gotten back to the same place. It took nine months to resume meetings, and it took another nine months to have the incidents reported out again. Then the hospital tried to revert those meetings to general safety committee meetings, where they deal with patient falls and needle sticks, but we successfully fought that too.

Click here to watch Dayton’s colleagues share how they won improved safety protections in 2020.

We have made progress in other areas. We have a gunpowder-sniffing dog that rounds occasionally. And the ED has a place to unload guns safely and a locked safe on the premises, as well as shields to protect nurses from being spit on. We’re in negotiations and trying to get contract language on metal detectors, like some other AFT Connecticut locals have, but so far the hospital claims they are too expensive.

As far as federal legislation, U.S. Representative Joe Courtney has been trying to pass a bill that would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to develop a workplace violence standard,4 and we’ll keep fighting for that. One of the biggest barriers to our efforts is that we aren’t collecting enough information. Hospitals have only been required to report the OSHA 300 logs (i.e., if someone is hurt enough to miss work or require medical care beyond first aid). But I can’t tell you how many times nurses are hit, punched, bitten, or threatened – and none of that has to be reported. We’re missing a huge piece of the picture.

MARX: We get a lot of pressure to not complain. We know we have to protect ourselves and each other because management won’t do it. When we have a home visit in a situation that feels unsafe, we ask a friend to call in 10 minutes and dial 911 if we don’t answer. We know if we tell management, they’ll just give that case to another nurse without telling them the first nurse felt uncomfortable. Or they’ll assign it to a male nurse. But why should he be put in an unsafe situation? When younger nurses get hit on by patients who start stalking them on Facebook, management tells them to set better boundaries or passes the patient on to another nurse. So after we complain, we’re both angry at management and afraid for that other nurse – it feels like we’ve set them up to be assaulted. And management is gaslighting us, making us feel like if we can’t deal with it, we’re not good home care nurses. We’re stuck: we want to provide all our patients with care and also care for each other.

Compounding the problem, one “fix” collapsed. Before my agency was part of Yale New Haven Health, we had a meeting with the police department, which then assigned us retired police officers as escorts. That made us feel a lot safer – but then one of the officers was arrested for dealing drugs. That tanked the escort system, and we haven’t had one since.

Click here for reporting earlier this year on the proposals Marx and her legislative colleagues introduced.

You won significant workplace violence legislation this year. How did you organize for this victory, and how will this legislation help keep healthcare workers safe?

MARX: After Joyce was murdered, I called the Senate chair of the public health committee and the president of the Democratic caucus and told them we needed to hold a press conference. This tragedy exposed how little protection home care workers get. You don’t want to go into someone’s home fearful or making assumptions – but nurses’ concerns about safety must be respected. That press conference brought much-needed scrutiny to the lack of safety practices.

The Senate Democrats made the health and safety omnibus bill, S.B. 1 the top priority, and the bill – now law – starts with the safety of home care workers. That includes nurses like me, as well as in-home companions and homemakers. I don’t know whether that would have happened without a home care nurse in the Senate – and as vice chair of the public health committee – to speak knowledgeably to these issues and champion this cause. Senator Saud Anwar (the committee chair) consulted me throughout, and I read the bill often to make sure that the home care and hospital associations weren’t watering it down.

One major provision I worked on requires intake nurses to collect more thorough information about patients and conduct a safety assessment. They have to check judicial and sex offender records and verify whether a patient has any history of violence toward healthcare workers, substance abuse, or domestic violence. They also have to get a list of the patient’s diagnoses and determine whether those diagnoses (e.g., diabetes or a psychiatric diagnosis) have remained stable, what services will be provided, where in the home we can provide private care, and whether there are weapons or other safety concerns in the home. No services will be denied because of the answers to these questions, but any worker assigned to those clients can access the information and decide whether they want to request an escort.

The law also requires that home care agencies perform monthly safety assessments with the workers who are providing direct care and develop and implement home care health and safety training curriculum in order to receive Medicaid reimbursements. The agencies must report verbal threats and abuse to the state public health department as well as physical or sexual abuse, and they must take steps to protect home care workers in response. That reporting is only required annually, which isn’t enough, but any mandated reporting at all is a huge change for us.

Finally, the law establishes a working group to continue studying and developing additional solutions to the safety issues home care workers face. The group must include at least three representatives from home care agencies, including a direct care worker, and representatives from relevant unions and nurse associations.

Click here for our statewide vice president’s latest commentary on healthcare workplace safety advocacy.

DAYTON: We paid attention to the promises legislators made at vigils for Joyce in October, and we held them to those promises. We did a lot of organizing, lobbying, letter writing and calling – and we held meetings at the statehouse. Because of the horrific situation, there wasn’t much pushback. Even with healthcare organizations, home healthcare companies, and the hospital association, we got much less resistance than usual. They knew we had the public on our side.

The provision relevant to hospitals is short but powerful because it requires healthcare organizations to comply with Joint Commission (JCO) standards for workplace violence or be subject to state audit. JCO establishes a definition for workplace violence that includes threats, intimidation, and bullying along with physical injuries. That’s a huge shift in how we can push hospitals to think about—and act on—incidents of workplace violence.

The first JCO standard says hospitals must conduct an annual analysis of their workplace violence prevention program and act on the results. In my hospital, that means we now have a legal means to make management resume our pre-COVID-19 practice. The standards also broaden what hospitals must monitor, report, and investigate to include injuries that occur in the hospital, occupational illnesses, property damage, safety and security incidents, and more. Healthcare workers are often discouraged from calling the police or pressing charges because we’re told there’s no point. But the JCO standards support that these incidents need to be reported. At the very least, those data will help us pass additional legislation. In addition, the standards require hospitals to provide regular training, education, and resources to staff. Right now, only ED and psychiatric staff get training, but workplace violence happens in every department.

Click here for the JCO’s latest report on prevention standards.

The bill doesn’t fix the whole problem, but it gives us a path forward. It’s terrible that the catalyst was someone dying. Joyce’s son is a critical care nurse at Backus Hospital, and we’re determined to keep this from happening again.

What advice can you offer other AFT affiliates fighting for similar legislation in their own states?

MARX: It’s essential to understand the process of how a bill becomes a law and how to advocate effectively. You have to go to your state legislators and tell them what’s happening in your workplace. It’s also important to know how your state government works so you know where to focus your energies. We went through the public health committee, but in another state the labor committee might make more sense. You also need to find the politicians who will be your champions – and then make sure you support them when they need it because running for office isn’t easy.

Also, know before you start that you might need to take baby steps. You have to run a slow, steady race with anything in government. Take our sick leave fight, for instance. The hardworking people who provide in-home non-medical care were carved out of Connecticut’s 2011 sick leave law because of their federal job classification as “maids.” I’m so proud that we passed a bill this year expanding paid sick leave so now everyone is covered. That only happened because advocates were persistent. Your legislators talk to lots of people every day, so you need to remind them often that you’re paying attention. Believe me, the persistent advocates are the people who get what they want.

DAYTON: Be prepared for a lot of work. One of the basic things that we’ve done is get pro-union people – like Martha – into the General Assembly. I’d like to say there was an easier way, but it’s grassroots. You have to get people who share your values to actually run – and then you have to turn out the vote for them.

Click here for our state federation president’s recent interview on electing union members to political office.

It’s also important that people tell their stories. I can go to the statehouse as a union leader and talk to someone, and they can write it off as the union just making noise. But if Joyce’s son talks to the press about his mother being murdered, it’s a whole different conversation. I know it’s hard to tell those stories and relive those terrible experiences. But it’s so important to tell them if you can, so the next person doesn’t have a story to tell. The more people speak up, the more legislators have to acknowledge how widespread the problem is.

And, as much as we appreciate this victory, we know it’s just one step – not a solution. We need to ensure strong implementation, including workplace violence committees, evidence-based training, and collecting real-time data.

Our union hopes to have a training program in place at Backus in no more than a year. We’re also putting workplace violence language into our bargaining proposals, and we’re willing to stand on the line if we need to in order to get that language into our contract. We have a lot of work ahead of us, from the local level to the state level. We know this is a great victory, and we’re going to celebrate it, but then we’ll be right back at it.

Click here for the original article in the latest edition of AFT Health Care.

The post Championing Safety in the Workplace and the Legislature first appeared on AFT Connecticut.