Dear Colleague,

Connecticut’s Collective Bargaining Law provides you and your family financial security because it enables you to bargain for competitive salaries and benefits.

Governor Dan Malloy is a strong advocate of the law, respecting teachers’ rights to bargain for better salaries and better teaching and learning conditions. In contrast, Tom Foley—as a corporate executive—disrespected employees by ignoring their right to bargain for better wages and forcing them on the picket line.

Since the late 1970s, when Tom Foley began working in the corporate world until today,there have been more than 950 days of strikes at the companies he has owned.

That is a scary scenario to consider as you examine the facts and prepare to vote on November 4^th. While an employee strike—where people reportedly lost their jobs and their homes—defines Foley’s corporate management, labor peace has characterized Connecticut’s public sector workforce for decades.

We don’t want this to change!  Examine the facts about what a Foley candidacy means for your income and your professional life.

Not one day of student instruction has been lost to a teacher strike in Connecticut since 1979, when the legislature strengthened our collective bargaining process with binding arbitration. Before that, teachers went on strike 55 times as they confronted unreasonable and arbitrary boards of education—managers like Tom Foley who had unbridled power to put employees on the picket line for lengthy and painful periods.

Collective bargaining gives you a voice in the workplace—a voice earned by veteran and retired teachers who fought for due process rights, for dignity, and for fairness in our public schools. Please do not put this voice at risk on Election Day.

CEA has examined the issues, looked closely at the candidates, and made endorsements, shining a light on the positions of all the candidates. We’ve endorsed 101 candidates in the races for the State Senate and the State House of Representatives, as well as the state constitutional offices. Please go to pages 8-9 of the CEA Advisor to review the endorsements.

Please consider a better direction for students, teachers, and public education—a better direction for pensions, collective bargaining, and education funding: Malloy/Wyman. Use the resources that CEA has created for you at cea.org and plan to attend a CEA County Forum meeting in your area to meet the candidates and learn about their positions on our issues.

We stand proudly on the shoulders of those who came before us to wage the battle for collective bargaining!