"Happy Holidays and a Healthy Workplace Bill" Cards to Legislators

[Kathy]

Send your cards to:
State Senator_____NAME____
Senate Clerk's Office
State Capitol, Room 305
Hartford, Connecticut 06106-1591

State Representative ___NAME______
OFFICE OF THE HOUSE CLERK
State Capitol, Room 109
Hartford, Connecticut 06106-1591

Find your legislators' names at http://www.cga.ct.gov/asp/menu/CGAFindLeg.asp

Letter:

Dear ______NAME_____:

Happy Holidays Season! When the legislative season begins in 2011, as
a member of Connecticut Healthy Workplace Advocates, I would like to
urge you to sponsor and introduce a Healthy Workplace Bill. A similar
bill, SB 60, was introduced in 2008 by Senator Edith Prague and passed
through the Labor and Public Employees Committee, as well as the
Judiciary Committee. This bill attempts to offer a solution to people
who have endured abusive conduct at work. It does not rely on a
person's status, but allows a private right of action for any worker
whose health has been harmed by malicious and intentional abuse. It
also protects businesses from frivolous lawsuits by having a high
threshold for even bringing a suit, and by offering affirmative
defenses to employers who have anti-bullying policies in their
workplaces that they are enforcing. It helps employees; it helps
employers. The only person who pays is the one engaged in abusive
conduct. Seventeen states, including Connecticut, have introduced this
law. Information on the bill can be found at http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org/.

Bullying and abusive conduct cost Connecticut jobs, make employers and
businesses less efficient, contribute to rising health care costs and
time taken off from work, and the problem affects nearly 50% of
workers directly or indirectly. http://www.healthyworkplacebill.org/problem.php#research
We can have a state with healthy workplaces: good for employees, good
for employers! Connecticut Business and Industry Association's
opposition to the bill is a knee-jerk reaction, the same as they had
with respect to sexual harassment legislation that has now proven its
success in changing workplaces for the better. Let's be part of
progress and demand that workplaces operating in a culture of fear
change their ways!

Thank you for considering the Healthy Workplace Bill.

Sincerely,

XXXX

[Attach an HWB pamphlet, found on this site, if you like, or include
your own story in a paragraph.]