A flyer shared online showing how Connecticut prison guard pay increases have failed to keep up with inflation, or with the salaries of both the Department of Correction (DOC) commissioner and the governor, argues that state employees have essentially seen a pay cut over the last nine years and could offer a glimpse into the governor’s ongoing contract negotiations with the State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC).
According to a flyer being sent around to members of the NP-4 bargaining unit, which covers thousands of DOC front-line employees represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), over the last 9 years and two labor contracts, state employee pay has increased 18.1 percent.
That total includes wage freezes during the last years of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s administration from 2016 through 2018. Since then, Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration has negotiated two wage contracts with SEBAC, which awarded salary increases between 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent between 2019 and 2024.
During that same period, the flyer shows, inflation grew by a cumulative 34.2 percent, particularly during the COVID years when the rate skyrocketed upwards of 9 percent. In total, the union argues, their employees have seen a net pay cut of over 12 percent because their pay increases have not kept pace with inflation.
Meanwhile, the DOC commissioner’s salary has grown by 34.3 percent, and the governor’s salary has grown by 51 percent. Also noted on the flyer, Gov. Lamont does not take a salary.
The latest round of wage contracts passed by the General Assembly in 2022 totaled $1.9 billion and included three consecutive years of 2.5 percent salary increases, bonuses, and step increases. Step increases were not included in NP-4 flyer outlining pay increases.
Step increases, also known as annual increments, are outlined in the contracts and increase an employee’s pay within the salary range of their step position; the step increase generally amounts to 2 percent. Employees at the top step of the pay scale received a $900 lump sum payment instead of a step increase under the last contract.
Were the step increases included in the flyer, the actual wage increase is slightly over 30 percent since 2018, a point argued by Republicans in their opposition to passing the labor contracts in 2022, claiming the deal was too costly and out of step with the private sector, which was also experiencing difficulties during years of high inflation.
The Lamont administration appears to be working through an impasse with SEBAC, which represents roughly 45,000 state employees. According to SEBAC’s contract negotiation update from August, the Lamont administration “has finally made movement towards an ultimate agreement,” following a disagreement in July.
“However, his latest offer still fails to meet the moment we are facing — we need a contract that is fair and addresses the chronic recruitment and retention issues plaguing our state. Even worse, the time it has taken to even move off of hard zeros is wholly unacceptable,” SEBAC Communications Director Drew Phelan wrote on September 8. “These stall tactics will not stand. Governor Lamont must understand what a year of raises and steps means to not only the 45,000 state workers, but also our families, who rely on our paychecks to meet basic needs. We cannot afford to wait any longer.”
According to SEBAC, the Judicial Professionals union rejected a $2,000 lump sum payment in lieu of a general wage increase and are seeking another round of 2.5 percent increases plus another round of step increases to address staffing shortages within state government.
SEBAC pointed to the latest $70 million contract approved for the CT State Police, who are not part of SEBAC, which tried to address state trooper staffing shortages with three years of 2.5 percent wage increases and a $3,500 bonus.
Lamont, who just announced he will seek a third term as governor, has been a key ally for union officials, ushering through many of their proposals over his last seven years as governor, including increasing the minimum wage to $15 per hour, paid family and medical leave, restricting so-called “captive audience meetings” by private employers, and limiting what organizations have access to state employee information.
Lamont, who is more fiscally conservative than some in his own party would like, has also clashed with the unions over pandemic pay, higher education funding, and an unsuccessful attempt to limit the state’s work from home policy enacted during the COVID pandemic.
During the 2025 legislative session, Lamont vetoed a bill that would have awarded unemployment benefits to striking workers, which garnered harsh words from both the progressive wing of the Democrat Party in the General Assembly and CT AFL-CIO President Ed Hawthorne who said, “Gov. Lamont is more concerned with protecting corporate profits than supporting the working people who make our economy run.”
The CT AFL-CIO also saw three unions disaffiliate following a failed ouster of Hawthorne; the organization has struggled in the past to balance the concerns of its public sector union affiliates with those of the private-sector trade unions.
When it comes to negotiating state employee wage contracts, however, the unions will have a strong argument, as under the Lamont administration, the state has enjoyed budget surpluses, unlike the years under Gov. Dannel Malloy when budget deficits forced wage freezes and benefit reductions.
Lamont faces both a primary challenge from Rep. Josh Elliott, D-Hamden, and a Republican opponent in 2026, with both Sen. Ryan Fazio, R-Greenwich, and former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart vying for the nomination. The next governor will be charged with negotiating an even larger contract – the SEBAC benefits contract that was originally negotiated by Gov. John Rowland in 1997 and has been renegotiated and extended multiple times; it expires in 2027.
The benefits contract governs state employee and retiree medical and pension benefits. Under Connecticut’s “fiscal guardrails” passed in 2017, the state has paid down more than $8 billion in pension debt, saving hundreds of millions per year in annual payments. However, Connecticut remains one of the states with the highest pension debt per capita in the country.
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My opinion is that all public service unions need to be outlawed and shutdown. They are nothing more then a bought and paid for voting block for which every party gives them the best deal. Since in CT and most states democrats don’t care about the taxpayer they give the unions the raise and keep get voted in destroying CT. I worked in a union shop and was surprised the the union didn’t support public service unions. This was because when private business unions negotiate they have to keep the business running. Public service unions care nothing about taxpayers just their own greed. Also with all the laws to protect workers why do we need unions? All they do is protect the lazy and useless and destroy the American Dream for working legal American Taxpayers.
“whichever party gives them the best deal”
James, after being a member of this same union for over 25 years I can say there’s only one party that gave the union sweetheart deals…. The Democrats.
Rowland and Jodi Rell couldn’t stand the unions so please remember that next time you’re at the voting booth.
As for your opinion about unions protecting the “lazy and useless” you are right on the money. You sound like a former union member who’s seen a thing or two yourself.