Connecticut\u2019s largest state employee union urged Gov. Ned Lamont late Friday to abandon talks of investing pension assets in the WNBA\u2019s Connecticut Sun and focus on negotiating overdue wage agreements for public-sector workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese members have put their hard-earned money into the pension fund, expecting a secure retirement, not for it to be used on a sports franchise that plays 18 games a year in Connecticut,\u201d Council 4 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in a statement posted to its Facebook page<\/a>. \u201cWe urge the governor to leave the distractions behind and focus on preserving public services and respecting the state employees who provide them every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Lamont earlier this month endorsed the concept<\/a> of investing pension assets to help keep the team in Connecticut, either at the Mohegan Sun casino, where it currently plays its home games, or at the recently renamed PeoplesBank Arena in downtown Hartford, formerly known as the XL Center.<\/p>\n The Associated Press reported<\/a>\u00a0in early August that a group led by Boston Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca reached a deal to buy the Sun from the Mohegan tribe for $325 million and move the team to Boston for the 2027 season.<\/p>\n Though the governor hasn\u2019t said what amount Connecticut might invest to keep the team here, he did say he believes it could be a sound investment.<\/p>\n But Council 4, which represents more than one-quarter of state government\u2019s unionized workforce\u00a0\u2014 more than 12,000 workers across all agencies and departments\u00a0\u2014 disagrees.<\/p>\n State employees \u201cdeserve the certainty of a dignified retirement, not the uncertainty of high-stakes investments in political pet projects,\u201d the Facebook post continued. \u201cTheir pension contributions are the foundation of a secure retirement that workers have already earned. To use that money on a sports franchise is to gamble with the futures of those who have already sacrificed so much.\u201d<\/p>\n State employee unions granted wage and benefit concessions twice in the decade of the 2010s to help close major budget deficits.<\/p>\n The Lamont administration did not respond to the Council 4 statement immediately after it posted Friday evening.<\/p>\n The Democratic governor\u2019s efforts to retain the Connecticut Sun also has drawn fire from Republican legislative leaders, who this week called the potential investment risky<\/a> and renewed a proposal for a professional board to oversee future use of pension funds.<\/p>\n Lamont has confirmed some discussions with tribal leaders regarding the Connecticut Sun but discussed few details publicly. The governor has said any infusion of state dollars into the sports franchise likely would be in conjunction with a private investor also interested in keeping the Sun here.<\/p>\n But the union wrote that Lamont has a more pressing, overdue issue to resolve.<\/p>\n Thirty-five bargaining units, representing nearly all unionized workers in state government excluding state police troopers, are working under wage agreements that expired June 30.<\/p>\n The Lamont administration, which has been trying to convince unions to scale back remote work policies established shortly after the coronavirus first struck Connecticut, hasn\u2019t reached any tentative deals on raises yet.<\/p>\n