14 arrested at Connecticut capitol building during health insurance protest

SEIU District 1199NE, the New England Health Care Employees Union, held a rally at the Legislative Office Building and engaged in civil disobedience to denounce…

SEIU District 1199NE, the New England Health Care Employees Union, held a rally at the Legislative Office Building and engaged in civil disobedience to denounce the State of Connecticut’s failure to deliver on the health insurance stipend benefit won in SEIU’s PCA Union contract, Hartford, Conn., March 1, 2023. Photo by Cloe Poisson

by: Braley Dodson

Posted: Mar 1, 2023 / 05:48 PM EST

Updated: Mar 1, 2023 / 05:48 PM EST

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Fourteen people were arrested Wednesday at the Connecticut Legislative Office Building during a protest regarding a health insurance benefit included in a union contract.

The 14 were issued Class C misdemeanors for disorderly conduct and released.

The group began protesting at about noon, with home care providers, union leaders and other doing a lie in to protest being left without an insurance stipend in the PCA Union contract. The stipend would have been $1,950 for full-time workers to pay for their personal health insurance. The stipend expired on Feb. 24.

Connecticut State Police were aware of the protest, according to a statement from the agency. Police watched the event, and said that the people who were arrested “engaged in activities that were in violation of Connecticut General Statue 53a-182, Disorderly Conduct.”

The statue bans congregating “with other persons in a public place and refuses to comply with a reasonable official request or order to disperse.”

State police said that the protestors were given warning that they were in violation of the law and would be arrested if they continued.