OP-ED: THE PARASITE UNIONS OF CONNECTICUT

Monday, May 11, 2026                                                                       

Students of Connecticut politics quickly learn that this is a state ruled by the unions:  Government unions, teacher’s unions, healthcare unions, labor unions.  At one point in time, there was a gentleman named Joe Aresimowitz who was the house leader diromg the 2010’s and a union steward.  In a speech, he promised the audience that he would never permit any legislation which would be directed against the power of the unions.  He kept his promise.

Endless stories of lazy, non-productive union workers are everywhere.  How does anything get done?  Elves?  Work slow downs are often a tool for labor negotiations, but here it seems to have become a way of life.  As can be best determined, there are no consequences for continuing to not get work done and still get paid.  Those are the labor unions.

Teachers Unions are another insult to common sense.  Long derided as a propagandist’s union, they are the main cause of the decline in education.  It is just as true in Connecticut.  There is a reason they hate test scores.  It lays bare the ongoing failures due to a hatred for teaching children.  There is a story of one educator who had nightmares about children crawling all over her.  It sounds like she needs to get another job.

How many stories are there of union machinists and electricians taking their time with a project?  They still have to get work done.  But to deliberately be so unproductive is horrible.  Yet such stories come out of places like Sikorsky where they are making front line Black Hawk helicopters.

How about a mention for the healthcare unions?  True story.  An elderly woman was asking for help while she was in the toilet in a nursing home.  She was ignored while the health care aide was arguing with her supervisor over lunch and break time.  No sense of humanity there.  It speaks volumes about the quality of care from health care unions.

Labor Negotiations Connecticut Style

Unions around the nation turn to Connecticut’s unions for guidance in labor contract negotiations.  The process we have for crafting a new labor contract is unique.  There are very few states which do this insanity.  Part One:  Union writes contract.  Part Two:  It is submitted for approval by the legislature.  No debates, no hearings, no public input.  The legislature  approves with little or no modification.  Part Three:  The legislature adds their own pension plan to the labor union contracts.

Parasite Unions:  Parasite Legislators

 Part Three should infuriate everyone.  It is the part that legitimizes the parasitic nature of unions while also make the state legislature part of the problem.  There is no more blatant conflict of interest.  But that is what you get with a Democrat majority.  They don’t care.

They remain blithely unaware of the problems they have created and of the decline in the condition of Connecticut they have brought on.  Sure, you can point to some bills here and there which give the impression they are thinking of the people of Connecticut.  But then you find bills that are just so poorly conceived that you have to wonder who is really in charge.  How about the unions?

 The Continuing Problem of Union Control of Connecticut

Connecticut continues to fall behind the rest of the nation economically and in many other measures.  The state remains one of the worst for businesses.  The unholy alliance between unions and the Democrats is based on a simple agreement.  So long as the unions keep providing the money and muscle to win election for Democrats, the Democrats will protect the unions and keep passing legislation that hurts everyone else in the state.

In round numbers, 16% of private sector workers in Connecticut are in unions.  The national average is closer to 7%.  The percentage of government workers who are unionized is around 17%.  This puts Connecticut in the top five states for unionized labor.  It will be a long time before Connecticut becomes a right-to-work state.

This parasitic relationship continues to be what sucks the life out of Connecticut’s future.  The work to fix this mess requires the creation of a group dedicated to the challenge. The people of Connecticut must understand they are confronted with a huge task if they are to ever restore political sanity to this state.  The reward will be well worth it.  So, let’s get to work.