Phone: 860-951-6614
CSEA SEIU Local 2001
SEBAC News Jul 22, 2022
SEBAC Leaders Meet with the Lamont Administration over Short Staffing Crisis
by Drew Stoner

We are continuing our fight throughout the summer to protect and expand public services, but we need to hear from you about what you have been experiencing at your workplace. How has short staffing negatively impacted your ability to fulfill your job? How does Connecticut lose out when we don't have the proper staff?

Tell us your story below so that we can share those details with the Administration so they can be fully aware of the crisis we are in. Please submit your short staffing story by clicking HERE

While short staffing seems to have always been a problem inside state government, over the last few years, the impacts of attrition and the ‘silver tsunami’ have pushed the Connecticut state workforce to a short staffing crisis. 

Over the past 20 years, we have seen over a 20% drop in the number of state workers, but just since the beginning of 2022, we’ve lost over 4,000 additional workers. These numbers represent state workers overworked and unable to accomplish the level of service they have always strived for. These numbers represent reduced opportunities to lift workers, particularly black and brown workers, into the middle class. And most importantly, these numbers represent Connecticut residents losing out on quality and affordable public services.

 Over the past several weeks, we have been collecting examples of what short staffing has meant to CSEA members. We’ve heard from members working at DMHAS who have witnessed co-workers being hospitalized following interactions with patients where not enough staff were available. We’ve heard from DOT members about seeing higher fatalities on our highways without enough staff to research, design and implement safety programs. We’ve heard from members working at DOC who are being mandated for shifts and working in conditions where we have been only lucky riots haven’t broken out and we haven’t lost anyone yet. And these are only a small sampling of the stories we’ve heard. 

CSEA has been working with the rest of the SEBAC coalition to address this short-staffing crisis across state agencies. This work included the SEBAC leaders, including Travis Woodward, our President, and David Glidden, our Executive Director, meeting with the Lamont Administration to share some of these short staffing stories and our recommendations to address them head-on. 

We hope that over the next several weeks we will be able to collaborate to make an impactful change that members across our State Division will feel when they get to work each day. We will post regular updates on this page, so please continue to use our CSEA-CT.com website as a resource to stay informed and learn how you can help in the fight against short staffing!

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