COALITION OF LABOR UNIONS LAUNCHES SECOND AD URGING A PEOPLE’S RECOVERY
Digital and TV spots highlight widening wage and wealth inequality during pandemic
HARTFORD, CT -- The coalition of labor unions including the Connecticut AFL-CIO, Connecticut Education Association (CEA), State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC), and Connecticut Service Employee International Union State Council (CT SEIU State Council), released its second ad focusing on a People’s Recovery budget and standing in opposition to more billionaire bailouts.
The ad campaign encourages working people and state leaders to do the right thing, addressing Connecticut’s values and priorities by strengthening public services and honoring workers for their sacrifices during the COVID pandemic. The People’s Recovery budget aims to reduce the burden on our working and middle class families and to change Connecticut’s regressive tax rates into a more progressive tax approach by making the rich pay their fair share. Ad copy is attached to this release. Click here to see the 30-second spot: http://bit.ly/TaxTheRich2.
“As President Trump's tax returns show, people who live extravagantly rich lifestyles often do so on the backs of working people,” said Sal Luciano, President of the Connecticut AFL-CIO. “It is not only possible in America today to own your own jet but pay less in taxes than every teacher, nurse, or tradesperson -- it is the expectation of the super wealthy. It is long overdue for working people in CT to demand the richest citizens in our state pay their fair share. We are paying ours."
"Our tax system in Connecticut has long favored the rich, but it has never needed reform more urgently than now, when the pandemic is turning inequality into a lethal weapon against essential workers like our union’s janitors and security officers,” said Rochelle Palache, Assistant District Leader of 32BJ SEIU in Connecticut. “Taxing the rich has always been about justice, now it’s also about survival.”
“I work hard for a living and I believe in fairness. Statistics show the middle class pays more in taxes. Why should the tax burden fall so heavily on our shoulders? I think it’s only fair to ask our wealthiest citizens to sacrifice a little for the good of our state,” said Aimmee Reyes-Greaves, a Department of Correction industries supervisor and member of AFSCME Local 391. “We as frontline workers have put our health and our families’ health on the line during COVID-19. Our elected leaders need to understand that it’s going to take all of us doing our part, working together and sacrificing together, to get through this pandemic.”
“As a maintainer at the Department of Transportation, I, along with all of my coworkers, put our lives at risk on a daily basis to ensure that the citizens of Connecticut have safe roads to travel on,” said Sherwin LeGendre, a steward and member of CEUI Local 511. “We take pride in our work. Rather than blaming public employees for budgetary problems, we should all be working together with our elected officials to ensure that our tax system is fair. We pay more than our fair share to ensure our state runs efficiently. We must require others to do the same.”
This ad will continue to run on TV and digital platforms through Election Day. To view the ad in its entirety, please visit http://bit.ly/TaxTheRich2.
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Tax The Rich Ad Copy:
During the COVID crisis
Working people are making the biggest sacrifice.
Four thousand have died.
A hundred thousand, and more, have lost jobs.
What we really need now
Is a People’s Recovery.
Good jobs.
Quality healthcare.
Quality public services.
Some say the state is “broke.”
But we know better.
Why favor billionaires over working people?
Why give them a lower tax rate?
Tax the rich.
For the funding we need now.
And for our next big challenge.
It’s up to us.
Call your state legislators now.
