250 Union Workers Storm New Haven City Hall

“We want a fair contract!” city workers called up to Mayor John DeStefano’s window.

The mayor’s reply: Maintaining workers’ current benefits will “bankrupt taxpayers.”

That argument became public Tuesday, as at least 250 union workers stormed City Hall for a face-to-face confrontation with the mayor. The workers marched to the Green from the High School in the Community, shouted chants outside DeStefano’s window, then met him for a chaotic conversation from the banister overlooking the main staircase from the first to second floors of City Hall.

At issue is the city’s quest for cutbacks in health and pension benefits in new labor contracts. Declaring that a “ruthless” City Hall has a awakened a “sleeping giant,” union leaders decried what they called bad faith in negotiations and vowed not to force working families to give back in tough times. The mayor said the city can no longer afford to offer some benefits far superior to those in the private sector, at least not without raising taxes.

The protest came as the city renegotiates with six city unions whose labor contracts have expired. The most contentious of those is the custodians contract, which recently landed in binding arbitration after both sides failed to come to agreement after a year. DeStefano has threatened to privatize workers’ jobs if they can’t strike a deal.

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