Connecticut Employees Union Independent Records

The early history of the Connecticut Employees Union Independent is largely the story of one man, its feisty and determined founder and president, Salvatore Perruccio. Perruccio was a prominent labor leader in the state of Connecticut for almost forty years. Perruccio, who served as a cook at Connecticut Valley Hospital from 1947 until his retirement in 1976, rose through the ranks of the American Federation of State, Country, and Municipal Employees Local 398, and became its president during the 1950s. He also served on the International Executive Board of the International Union, AFL-CIO.

The Connecticut Employees Union Independent was formed on 26 April 1967, when Perruccio and 325 state employees working at the Connecticut Valley Hospital in Middletown decided to break away from AFSCME and begin their own union. Internal matters were cited by Perruccio as a reason for the break, as well as the fact that it was difficult to get money back from the national union for local services. The split with the AFSCME was not friendly, and the Federation attacked the new union with a variety of tactics ranging from court injunctions, subterfuge, and even violence. The Independent managed to survive, and by 1981 it boasted a membership of over 8,000 state employees, most of whom were maintenance workers.

Success, however, did not come easily. The new union was constantly subjected to raids by larger unions within AFSCME, and by 1982, the union was finding it difficult to stand on its own. It sought affiliation with the Service Employee International Union, AFL-CIO, in order to protect itself, and obtained guarantees whereby the union maintained its local autonomy but was protected from outside raiding. In addition, the merger prevented the state government from playing one employee union against another. The affiliation was finally approved by the union's rank and file members in 1985.

Besides being active in many labor organizations, Perruccio was also involved in numerous local, state and federal activities. In 1984 he was selected by the U.S. Department of Education to serve as secretary on the Vocational Education Advisory Committee, and was responsible for sponsoring a busing referendum in Middletown, Connecticut which allowed parochial school students to be bused at public expense. He was an active member of St. Sebastian's Church, the Garibaldi Mutual Aid Society of the Sons of Italy, and the B.P.O.E Elks No. 771 Lodge. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. He died on 4 January 1987 at the age of 60.