Hartford, Conn. – Carlos Moreno, Connecticut Working Families State Director, issued the following statement after the Judiciary Committee vote on S.B. 668, An Act Concerning a Fair Workweek Schedule.     

Carlos Moreno, State Director, CT Working Families:

“For many workers in Connecticut, the start of the workweek begins with a blank schedule. Large profitable corporations in our state often subject their workers to on-call shifts, calling their employees in with little notice and no compensation if their shift is cancelled, many times at the last minute.

The Judiciary Committee’s vote today in support of S.B. 688 is an important step to end the uncertainty and erratic schedules for over 350,000 workers in Connecticut, giving them the stability they deserve. We just saw the impact of this kind of legislation in New York City, where the city sued fast-food giant Chipotle last week. There, a large corporation systematically forced its workers to change their schedule with little notice, required employees to work consecutive shifts with little time to rest, or repeatedly hired new workers instead of offering current employees more shifts. According to the complaint, Chipotle owes more than $150 million to its workers – showing how pervasive these practices were, and how much corporations believe they can get away with it.

With today’s vote, Connecticut is closer to put an end to these abusive practices and make these employers accountable. Instead of living at the whims of large corporations, workers will have the chance to have the stability to plan their lives and get ahead.

We want to commend the leadership of the Committee Chairs, Senator Winfield and Representative Strafstrom, and members of the committee in moving this bill forward.