“I’m so proud to stand here with you this afternoon as we continue to fight for our civil liberties, our right to peaceful protest, and our need to stand up for those who can’t,” CEA Vice President Joslyn DeLancey told the crowd gathered on the New Haven Green Sunday for the CT Civil Liberties Defense Rally.
“We’re here today because our fundamental freedoms are under threat, like what we’re seeing in Los Angeles,” she said. “They’ve been attacked for months now, and as much as I’d like to think this is just a national issue, even living in Connecticut, we don’t have to look far to see it.”
The rally brought out social justice advocates and union members from across the state to support union rights and civil liberties.
“Right now, unions and all organizations of working people are under unprecedented assault. Recently the federal government eliminated the collective bargaining rights of more than five percent of all unionized workers, and that’s just in the first three or four months of this administration,” said CREC teacher Daniel Piper.
Danbury teachers showed up in force at the rally, standing up for civil liberties and union rights.
He added that free speech rights are also imperative for educators.
“We need these rights because as teachers we have to speak for a living, and we are public figures,” Piper said. “We need to be out and involved in struggles, defending our right to free speech, to protest, and to organize.”
Piper seconded a New Business Item introduced by Danbury teacher Julian Shafer at the CEA Representative Assembly in May calling on CEA to promote the CT Civil Liberties Defense rally to defend organized labor, free speech, due process, immigrant, and LGBTQ+ rights.
DeLancey said that unfortunately, even in Connecticut, some lawmakers are rejecting labor values and turning their backs on fairness for working people. A Just Cause bill that would have ended arbitrary and politically motivated teacher terminations and protected educators’ right to speak freely failed to receive a vote in the House.
“What we saw at the close of this legislative session is that, when given the opportunity to do the right thing by labor and educators, our own Connecticut House leadership chose not to bring Just Cause legislation to the floor for a vote—despite it being a no-cost bill that passed the Senate with bipartisan support. A bill that would protect public school educators from arbitrary, retaliatory firings was simply shelved. In a moment when educators need protections the most, our leaders chose political convenience over public courage,” DeLancey said.
She warned that allowing good bills to quietly die can be just as damaging to working people as actively passing harmful ones
“Across the country and right here at home we are witnessing efforts to roll back our rights,” DeLancey said. “Let’s come together and make sure this state—and this country—are the kind of place where everyone can live free, thrive fully, and rise with dignity.”
