Giving public employees the right to bargain collectively isn’t a very old idea or a very good one, but it’s not something you take back, certainly not in Connecticut. In fact, Connecticut Democrats and a few Republicans in the Legislature are making some ill-timed noise about expanding public employee bargaining. The right of union workers to bargain collectively with their private-sector companies was well established long before Wisconsin became the first state to give the same right to public employees in 1959. Today, nearly half of the states, excepting the late Confederacy, allow their union workers to bargain.The 1940s and ’50s was an era of increasing growth and power for unions, which accounts for the ease with which labor won this victory for public workers. Forgotten by then was an earlier, pointed warning from Franklin Roosevelt, labor’s great presidential friend: “All government employees should realize the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management,” wrote FDR to the head of a government employees’ union in 1937.Roosevelt was right. When labor and management engage in bargaining in the private sector, there are clearly drawn sides; when a public employee union bargains with a governor and legislature, there are not. Labor holds cards marked “votes” and “financial support,” which means one thing: Advantage, labor.Roosevelt wasn’t the only labor champion opposed to collective bargaining for government workers. As late as 1955, George Meany, the president of the AFL-CIO, wrote in The New York Times, “It is impossible to bargain with the government.” And, just four years after the governor of Wisconsin signed the first law allowing government employees to bargain collectively, Frank Zeilder, the socialist mayor of Milwaukee, told a Milwaukee newspaper, “Government unions can mean considerable loss of control over the budget and hence over tax rates.” In Connecticut, Gov. Dannel Malloy isn’t going after the public employees’ collective bargaining rights but he is trying to take back some of what collective bargaining has wrought. At the same time, his own party, with some Republican fellow travelers in the Legislature, is thinking about expanding it to managers, legislative employees and even graduate assistants at the state universities. Talk about brilliant timing.A couple of weeks ago, the Labor and Public Employees committee gave bipartisan, yes, bipartisan approval to a bill that gives bargaining rights to most managers, the aforementioned legislative employees and graduate assistants and state Capitol police. Only high-ranking cops, lieutenants and above, and some top managers would not be allowed to unionize, The Connecticut Mirror reported. Don’t forget, state employee unions already have professionals like attorneys and accountants among its members, something you’ll rarely, if ever, find in the private sector.Other committees have been equally busy at mischief making in apparent conflict with the governor’s budget reduction aims. The Human Services Committee has approved a bill extending collective bargaining to self-employed personal-care attendants paid by the state through Medicaid. And not to be outdone, the Education Committee is considering a bill that would award bargaining rights to day-care providers getting state reimbursement. Hopefully, all this is being done so that the Democratic majority can later tell labor it tried — but failed — in a bad year. We’ll see.Connecticut has been last in job creation every year since 1989, but that didn’t stop the Labor Committee from approving a bill that would give Connecticut another first: the first state to mandate paid sick leave for companies employing more than 50 workers. This measure had been supported by the governor, but he seems to be having second, sensible thoughts. His spokeswoman said Malloy supports the concept but makes no promises before he sees the bill.At the same time, Malloy, the Democrat these unions helped elect, has been traveling the state, warning them their failure to agree to $2 billion in concessions could result in terrible budget cuts that would include thousands of state employee layoffs. The governor appears to be very serious, so serious that he seems willing to sacrifice a second term. So far, the seriousness has not extended to the legislative branch, which has never shown an inclination to sacrifice much of anything.Simsbury resident Dick Ahles is a retired journalist. Email him at dahles@hotmail.com.
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One systemic consequence of slavery is the loss and obscuring of the histories of those who were enslaved. Records were often not kept about where Africans had been stolen from or who they were related to. Families were torn apart, leaving nothing but the faintest traces of the past. The delineation point, where genealogists can no longer trace histories back, is refered to this as the “document wall.”
Today, 250 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and more than 160 years since the Emancipation Proclamation, there is a growing effort to restore some of the history stripped from enslaved people and their descendants. Among the leaders of these efforts is Mills, president of the Alex Breanne Corporation, a nonprofit organization that works to identify previously anonymous Black Americans from history and connect them with their living relatives.
The work began with Mills’ sister, who started digging into their family’s past in the 1990’s and introduced him to this emerging world of genealogy. Through that process, the Mills family discovered their great-great-grandfather, Ned Mills, who had been enslaved in Texas. His last name came from his final enslaver and remains the family surname. Through their research, they found that the document wall directly affected their ancestor, who learned of his liberation on June 19, 1865, now commemorated as Juneteenth.
“For the first time,” Mills writes on his website, “American slavery wasn’t something that had happened to anonymous people in a history book. It had happened to my family.”
The discovery gave Mills a familial pride he had been missing for years. That pride fueled his desire to help others find their own history. In 2023, Mills received his certificate in genealogical research from Boston University. He has used his expertise to help descendants of enslaved people uncover histories they never dreamed of learning.
To do this, he uses a process called “reverse genealogy,” identifying a person from the past and working forward to discover their descendants. Along the way, Mills has found some remarkable people who fought for freedom on American soil, some of whom were never freed.
Pay Bill for Robin Starr’s service in the Continental Army.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
At the Cornwall Historical Society event, Mills will present the stories of four Connecticut families: Job Lathrop of Norwich, the son of Pirmus Armes, about whom Mills has published a book; Prince Mortimer of Middletown, also the subject of a book by Mills;, the three sons of London Wallace of Simsbury; and Robert “Robin” Starr of Danbury, who later lived in Cornwall and Sharon.
A few years ago, Cornwall Consolidated School social studies teacher Will Vincent reached out to Mills for research guidance on a local history project his students were undertaking. Together, they learned about Naomi Freeman of Cornwall. After purchasing an acre of land on Great Hollow Road in 1828, Naomi Freeman became the first Black female landowner in Cornwall.
The students petitioned the town to rename a road after the historic Cornwall resident In April 2025, Great Hollow Road was officially renamed Naomi Freeman Historic Road. U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes joined Mills and the Cornwall Consildated School students for a presentation of their research.
Since then, Mills has guided the students in their quest to learn more about Starr’s story. Starr was a Revolutionary War soldier who joined the Continental Army to earn enough money to buy his own freedom, receiving the Badge of Merit in the process. The stories of his descendents’ services are equally worthy of their own books.
In recognition of Mills and the students’ work, First Selectman Gordon Ridgway proclaimed Feb. 8 as Robin Starr Day.
Preregistration is required for the event at the Cornwall Historical Society. To learn more about Mills’ work, visit
alexbreanne.org.
John Mills speaking at Quinnipiac University.Courtesy the Alex Breanne Corporation
Stephanie Saetta runs Charlie Chicken Bones, a sanctuary in Salisbury.
Dogs have been at the center of Saetta’s life since childhood. She remembers going to the library to research different breeds and trying to convince her parents the family needed a dog. She had her heart set on an Irish Wolfhound, but she was more than happy when her mom brought home a West Highland terrier.
After college, she adopted Charlie as a puppy from a rescue on Long Island. He was a hound-shepherd-Rottweiler mix who suffered from intense seizures. Some veterinarians recommended euthanasia, but Saetta wasn’t ready to give up on him.
When Charlie would have an episode, she would sit with him, nose to nose, talking him through it. She learned to look for the moment he began to come around — when he could smell her again and his tail started to wag.
“You only get one or two of these soul connection dogs, so I do this in his honor,” Saetta said. “I like to think that all the dogs that come through are going to have that person that they connect with just the same.”
Through a network of women working to rescue animals in Texas, she learned about the desperate situations facing many dogs.
With limited space, some public pounds euthanize even healthy animals to make room. Limited access to veterinary care leaves sick dogs or unvaccinated puppies especially vulnerable.
Saetta saw that reality firsthand with a puppy named Gus, a Labrador mix she fostered who has since been adopted. Gus and his sisters had been dumped beside a road, where they were living under an abandoned car. People would leave food for them, but no one would take them to the pound.
“Even the people who rescue animals down there were like, ‘sadly, the best place for them to be is on the side of the road,’” she said. “That’s safer. Someone might actually help them that way.”
Saetta knows that there are far more dogs than any one person can save, but she also knows that helping one dog means one fewer on the street.
Stephanie Saetta,with her rescue dog George and Blue (left), a shepherd mix awaiting his forever home.Madi Long
Charlie Chicken Bone Sanctuary operates entirely through foster homes, a model that Saetta believes is best for the dogs and the humans hoping to adopt them.
Rather than moving directly from a difficult environment into a permanent home, the dogs have a chance to settle into a quieter setting. They can learn what it’s like to live with a family, sleep somewhere comfortable and receive affection without fighting for attention. Fostering also allows the rescue to really get to know each dog.
“As fosters, we’re honest,” said Saetta. We’ll tell you everything that’s been bad, everything that’s been good. What their temperament is and how they’ve responded to all the things they’ve experienced.”
A successful adoption is not just about finding a dog a home; it’s about finding the right home where the dog and family can thrive together.
Saetta is looking for more people willing to open their homes to foster dogs. She understands that the thought of growing attached and eventually saying goodbye can feel daunting. But she sees that goodbye a little differently.
Fostering means being part of a dog’s journey, even if only for a short time. It gives dogs a safe place to rest, the chance to trust again and the love they have gone without for much of their lives. And when the time comes for them to leave, it is not really a loss. It is the reward of knowing they are moving on to a forever home.
Blue, Saetta’s current foster, is hoping to find his perfect home.
Blue, a 7 year-old Shepard mix, is waiting for his forever home. Madi Long
Now around 7 years old, Blue spent most of his life wandering the streets of Texas. People sometimes left food out for him, but his mangy, dirty coat kept them from stopping to pet him. Today, he has a chance to experience something different.
Blue is still waiting for his forever home. Saetta believes he would do best as the only dog in a household or alongside another senior dog. He will need someone willing to continue working with him on his training and understand that a dog with his history needs patience.
But what he gives in return is a whole lot of love.
“He’s so enthusiastic, he’s so excited for life, he’s so friendly, and he’s got such a good heart, and he loves to cuddle,” Saetta said. “He’s a good, good, good dog.”
For more information on adopting Blue or how to foster, visit ccbsanctuary.org.
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