John W. Olsen, president of the state AFL-CIO since 1988, is worried that Gov. Dannel Malloy may ask unions for more than their share of pain. “This state and this nation cannot sustain a shrinking middle class,” said Olsen, a former state Democratic chairman. “Right now, for workers to be told they’re the problem, while we’re seeing excessive profits for the state’s wealthiest, I can’t accept that.”
Raising income taxes on the state’s wealthiest, which is expected to be part of Malloy’s overall package that he will present to the General Assembly on Wednesday, is more appropriate than saddling state workers with more concessions.
“You’ve got the Greenwich hedge-fund guys and we reward people for dismantling and destroying companies,” Olsen said in an interview with the Blogster.
“I’m kind of concerned a little bit about how we define where we are right now. It’s the question of who spilled and milk and who cleans it up.”