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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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CT Lawmakers Consider Better Jobs Act

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Friday, March 6, 2015   

HARTFORD, Conn. - State lawmakers heard testimony Thursday on the kinds of hours that are required for janitors and other workers to make a living wage.

On the table is HB 6877, the Better Jobs Act, and Tsedeye Gebreselassie, senior staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project, told lawmakers 30 hours a week is an important threshold for them to consider "because, if you get 30 or more hours a week, then very likely that's the only job that you have to have; so you don't have to cobble together two or three or four part-time jobs just to make ends meet."

This is the first time state lawmakers are considering the Better Jobs Act. It requires that service workers employed in large buildings work at least 30 hours per week. Several other measures were introduced Thursday to help both working families and working women.

When the building industry relies too heavily on part-timers, said Gebreselassie, then workers do not get access to health care and other important benefits. She said the Better Jobs Act would have a positive impact on workers all over the state.

"There are janitorial workers that work cleaning large commercial office buildings," she said. "In fact, there are some areas of the state like Harford where most of the work is already full-time, which shows that it can easily be done."

Among those supporting the legislation is the 32 BJ SEIU, which represents 5,000 service workers in Connecticut.

Text of the legislation is online at openstates.org.


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