Members of SEIU are making a push to persuade state legislators to save health care benefits before it’s too late.

See union release below:
Hartford, CT – On the steps of the Capitol building on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., children will give legislators their applications for HUSKY while their parents, cleaners at the Capitol building and other state-owned facilities, will appeal to the legislators to pass measures that will save their current employer-paid health care. Hundreds of children and their parents are at risk of losing their health insurance because of the legislature’s inaction in correcting the terms of the Standard Wage Law which governs the benefits of service workers at state-owned buildings and facilities.

The Standard Wage Law, which outlines the wages and benefits for nearly 600 cleaners of state-owned buildings and facilities, including the State Capitol building, Bradley Airport, the Stamford train station, UConn and other community college campuses, includes an arbitrary cap on benefit costs which is being exceeded by the rising costs of health care. As a result, hundreds of cleaners and their families could lose their health care, making many of them eligible for public health programs. The cost of the workers going on public health programs is estimated to be upwards of $2 million.