Current Issues

UACT's Current Issues

United Action works on the following issues. We are called to action because of the needs of members of our congregations and their activism on these issues.

Health Care Access:

Promoting comprehensive, high quality, affordable and accessible health care for all Connecticut residents.
Preserve and stregthen the gains made by the Affordable Care Act.
Defend Medicaid, Medicare and women's health programs.
Eliminating disparities in health care access and quality of care based on race, income, employment or insurance.
Expanding health care access for undocumented immigrants.

Immigrant Rights:

Working in coalitions to bring about comprehensive federal immigration law reform.
Fighting against the deportation machine and educating immigrants about their rights during interactions with law enforcement.
Aiding undocumented students in Connecticut in their fight for institutional financial aid at public colleges and universities.

Read more about immigrant's rights

CT Domestic Worker Justice Campaign

Connecticut’s population is aging at an increasingly rapid rate. But the supply of homecare workers remains well below what is needed to enable this growing population to age with dignity, largely because of poor pay, lack of benefits, onerous working conditions, and lack of training that leads to a 50%-60% annual turnover within this sector in our state.

This and the fact that there are 4 and 5 year waiting lists in the affordable senior housing developments in the state, mean that many seniors who otherwise could age at home, or at least in their communities face premature entry into nursing homes.

A domestic worker is a person who works within their employer’s household, performing a variety of household services for an individual or a family such as providing care for the elderly to housekeeping. This is an unregulated industry that was intentionally excluded from coverage by federal labor laws including the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family Medical Leave Act. Yet, it is a “real job” often demanding professionalism and dedication. The workers are among the most vulnerable to abuse and mistreatment of all workers, since their workplaces typically are not subject to any laws regulating job safety, wage and hour standards.

UACT is part of a statewide coalition that aims to:

Build power and support to address the needed expansions/amendments and enforcements for new protections through a full Domestic Workers Bill of Rights
Provide education and training to domestic workers and their employers advising them of new state and federal protections for home health care and other domestic workers