Union members renewing call for leadership, commitment to quality at legislative hearings on proposed legislation to split department and create two new agencies
WHAT: Testimony to the General Assembly's Transportation and Government Administration and Elections Committees during a joint public hearing on a bill to create two separate transportation agencies
WHEN: Monday, March 3 beginning at 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Room 2E of the Legislative Office Building, located at 300 Capitol Avenue, in Hartford.
DETAILS: The first public hearing by the legislature's Transportation Committee on proposed legislation to dissolve the Department of Transportation (DOT) is bringing public service workers united in CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 to the capitol. Members of the union who work at the agency will testify in opposition to the bill, which would create two or more new transportation agencies in its place, at today's hearing.
"Creating more agencies does nothing to reduce the influence of special interests on our public services," Jay Doody, who works as a transportation principal engineer in the DOT's New Haven district office, says in his written testimony. He goes on to ask lawmakers if instead of creating smaller agencies that may be more vulnerable to the pressures of private sector consultants, "wouldn't a better solution be to appoint a new Commissioner who is more interested in delivering sound transportation policy than preserving the status quo?"
Members in CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 have long appealed to Governor M. Jodi Rell, who proposed splitting the DOT in her "State of the State" address to the General Assembly last month, to engage the workforce in reforming the beleaguered agency. The union's members are eager to work with the legislature and the Administration to solve transportation problems, and will reiterate their call for an inter-modal approach that integrates the state's highways, rails, ships, and airports in a clear, unifying mission for the department at today's hearing.
CSEA/SEIU Local 2001 members will be available for comment at the Legislative Office Building throughout the public hearing. Members of the press may contact CSEA/SEIU Local 2001's Communications Director Matt O'Connor at 860/951-6614, extension 129, or by sending e-mail to moconnor@csea760.com to schedule interviews.