Contract Update - July 2025

Brothers and Sisters,

Your union contract negotiating team has met with state negotiators on multiple occasions. We’ve made progress on some important contract language—but when it comes to wage increases, the State continues to show blatant disrespect. At the most recent session, they offered a one-time $2,000 bonus and a step increase. Let’s be clear: this is not a raise. This is an insult. 

Each of you walks into one of the most dangerous and challenging workplaces in the State of Connecticut every single day. You stand tall in the face of crisis-level short staffing, a rising number of staff assaults, and a dramatic increase in the influx of narcotics into facilities. Since the passing of the PROTECT Act and other policy changes, your duties have increased. Your risk has grown. Yet, your value continues to be ignored by those who claim to represent this state’s best interests. 

From the top down, the message is unmistakable, those in power have made their position crystal clear: they do not recognize or respect the sacrifices, professionalism, and dedication that correctional staff bring to the job every day. 

We refuse to accept this insult in silence. 

We have officially filed for impasse and will move forward to arbitration to fight for the fair, just, and livable wages that you have more than earned. Make no mistake, this is about more than numbers on a paycheck. This is about dignity. This is about honoring the grueling, high-stress, and often invisible work that correctional employees do to keep our communities safe. 

You should not have to choose between paying the bills and putting food on the table. You should not have to shoulder the burden of the state’s artificial budget problems, particularly when the state has run surpluses ranging from hundreds of millions of dollars to billions of dollars, every year for the past six years. We will not let them balance the budget on the backs of Connecticut’s Correctional Officers and staff. 

This is the next step in our fight—and we will not back down. 

Arbitration may take time, but our resolve will not waver. We will keep you informed every step of the way. In the face of this injustice, we must remain what we have always been: united, unbreakable, and unwavering. 

Stand strong. Stand together. 

Your Union Leadership