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Good Jobs for Hartford

Good jobs with decent pay and quality benefits are critical to the future of our city. Unfortunately, the statistics are grim. Over 30% of Hartford residents have an income that is less than the federal poverty level, and over 43% of all children in Hartford are living in poverty. Hartford’s median household income of $28,293 for 2006 was the lowest of any city in the state.

To reverse the troubling pattern of poverty wage employment in Hartford, Working Families is committed to an agenda of good jobs and living wages for Hartford residents.

“Green Jobs” Public Works Program

Cities throughout the U.S. have begun moving in the direction of environmentally friendly buildings. Hartford has also moved in this direction, but it can move faster and become a leader in this area. We propose a large public works project that will be paid for through the energy savings from “green” buildings and utilities:

• Retrofitting all public buildings for energy efficiency.
• Retrofitting traffic signals throughout the city to achieve energy efficiency.
• Create a city revolving loan fund for private businesses to enable local companies to retrofit buildings for energy efficiency. Loans would be paid back to the city with interest because companies would save money from energy efficiency.

Expansion and Enforcement of Hartford’s Living Wage Law

As economic development comes to our city, it is increasingly important that the benefits are shared by Hartford’s residents. To this end, the Living Wage ordinance should be applied and enforced in the broadest possible way for both city contracts and development projects.

The ordinance should:

• Be expanded to apply to all job categories, not only specific “service worker” descriptions.
• Be applied to all development projects that receive city financial assistance, including developments like Front Street, and the Colt Project.

Local Hiring and Responsible Contracting

Hartford has a local hiring goal of 30% for city construction. But many projects have fallen woefully short of that goal. To strengthen the local hiring policy, we propose:

• Increasing incentives and penalties to encourage companies to comply with “first source” hiring requirements and meet hiring goals.
• Invest in apprenticeship and training programs for youth and adults. We will work with the Board of Education to develop a specialty school focused on construction and building trades to prepare a new generation of Hartford residents to fill the growing need for construction jobs – the kinds of jobs to provide good pay and benefits for local residents.

Working Families Party candidates Luis Cotto, Urania Petit, and Dr. Larry Deutsch are committed to good jobs for Hartford residents. Increasing family incomes, reducing poverty, and giving Hartford residents the economic opportunities they deserve is one of the most important priorities to move our city forward.

Paid for by Working Families Campaign Committee. Deborah Noble, Treasurer.