As of July 1st, all Connecticut state workers have been subjected to an increase in their healthcare costs* while their wages stay stagnant as our current collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) expire. 

Across different timelines, negotiation teams throughout SEBAC have been working at each of the 35 bargaining tables to reach fair agreements that address wages, steps and many other issues. Yet as our contracts hit expiration, the Lamont Administration has refused to bring honorable proposals to the tables.

Our state workforce is the backbone of our public safety, infrastructure, education, and health systems—and the first line of defense when federal funding dries up. Yet with no contract in place, the Administration is asking state workers to hold the line while simultaneously insulting them at the bargaining table.  Our roads and bridges continue to age while we scramble to recruit engineers and maintainers.  Our public safety professionals are stretched thin, asked to do more with less, even as the risks grow.  Our public colleges are hemorrhaging from relentless budget cuts, forcing students and staff to pay the price. And our healthcare workers—still carrying the scars of the pandemic—are being pushed past the point of exhaustion without the support they need to recover.

One unit which has an earlier negotiation timeline, the Judicial Professionals Employees Union (JPE) proposed to the State a one-year economic offer to match what the Administration previously agreed upon with the State Police Union (CSPU NP-1) - 2.5% wage increase plus step with top step payments. The State’s reply to JPE was no wage increase, no step, and no top step payment. This is insulting to say the very least and we would not expect a single state bargaining unit to accept this non-offer.  

JPE represents just one of the units but workers throughout state government stand in solidarity while they move to arbitration in late summer or early fall. It’s important to note that an arbitration award would also still need approval from the General Assembly. 

Governor Lamont must stop the games and offer fair and honorable contracts. State investment now is the key to truly safeguarding our state from federal cuts. The longer these contracts are delayed, the less our agencies will be able to retain critical talent, let alone recruit effectively to fill the thousands of vacancies that have been funded by our Legislature.  State workers make our state go.  It’s time to stop the games and respect these workers. 

*The overall costs of health premiums for the state and for active employees has increased 9.86% as of July 1, 2025.  Non-Medicare retirees are seeing a cost increase of 10.70%. While the overall trend of rising healthcare costs is not something we can control, we will continue to do whatever we can to minimize cost increases while protecting the critical benefits that keep state employees healthier and better able to serve the public. These increases would have been higher had they not already been mitigated by numerous initiatives of the joint Health Care Cost Containment Committee with the State Comptroller, and it is hoped that next year that the national trend will show a slow down in healthcare cost increases.