The General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee has unveiled a 68-page omnibus proposal titled “An Act Concerning Workforce Development and Working Conditions in the State.” Introduced in an election year, House Bill 5003 consolidates a wide range of labor-related changes affecting public employees, private businesses, municipalities, and schools.
Framed as a package to improve working conditions, the bill reaches into multiple areas of employment law, imposing new mandates, altering existing labor frameworks, and raising potential constitutional and fiscal concerns.
The Janus Issue
One notable concern involves language in Connecticut’s public-sector labor statutes that still references agency fees — payments equivalent to union dues required from nonmembers as a condition of employment. In Janus v. AFSCME (2018), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that compelling such payments violates the First Amendment.
Rather than removing that language, the bill modifies surrounding payroll deduction provisions, allowing employers and unions to negotiate how dues are collected through collective bargaining agreements, while leaving the requirement that nonmembers pay union-equivalent fees. While unenforceable under federal law, retaining unconstitutional language in state law creates confusion and raises questions about legislative intent. Following Janus, many states updated their statutes to conform with the ruling. Connecticut’s failure to do so continues to generate legal...
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