“I support the right for workers to form a union,” Malloy told the nurses.
“There is a process under way at Backus, and I will respect the outcome of that
process.”
So said Governor Dan Malloy when he met us last March 9, 2011, less than two weeks after we had gone public and a full two months before we voted.
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Backus nurses met in a large room. We formed chairs into a circle, we hung AFT
union banners and flags on the walls, some of us in still in scrubs, we waited
for the governor. We were told he had a long tiring day, he was coming from the
meeting at Norwich town hall with the voters, defending his budget. He took the
time after all this to meet us. Why?
Respect!
That respect continues.
This Monday the Governor will join us as we rally for our first contract in front of the hospital. The rally starts at 4:30, and we expect him about 5:00 or 5:30.
He went out on a limb meeting us last March. I mean, we could have lost. He did it because regardless of the outcome, he supports worker's right to organize and collectively bargain.
Now he comes to us again as we struggle against an administration that has spent $11 million trying to defeat us, and, falling to do so, to bust us.
They will fail at this also.
The Governor knows what we know. Unions are good for hospitals and they are good for business.
So, as representatives of our community, the Backus Federation of Nurses welcomes the Governor to Norwich.
It will be nice to see him again.
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