Building a Political Movement: 'The Beginning of a New Political Movement'

Thousands of CWA members and every public worker local in New Jersey have put the governor and members of the state legislature on notice: “We are fed up, and we are not going to take it anymore. If you want our support, you have to earn it.”

For more than a year, CWA members and other public workers in the state have been fighting against cutbacks in vital public services for the disabled and the elderly and attacks on workers’ health care, pensions and bargaining rights.

Public workers are determined to win this fight, and are considering setting up an SIF to fund this major campaign.

Among the campaign actions:

• CWA and the National Education Association sponsored a series of meetings with state legislators, “where workers looked for answers when it comes to the repeated attacks on public workers and the right to form a union in New Jersey.”
• CWA ran television ads to spotlight Governor Christie’s 33 proposals to destroy workers rights in public employment in New Jersey, including allowing towns and municipalities to opt out of the Civil Service system, the rules that promote fairness in public employment. Without these rules, politicians can remove career public employees and replace them with campaign contributors and cronies. That would politicize every public sector job and open the floodgates to corruption. 
• Some 35,000 people turned out in May for a rally in Trenton, the biggest in state history. More than 7,000 CWAers from 30 public and private sector locals were joined by 20 other unions and more than 100 organizations, community groups, environmental and anti-poverty activists, the faith community, and more.

In a speech that rocked the crowd, CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton decried "the most severe, pervasive and sustained attack on public employees, public employee unions and public sector collective bargaining” since workers got the right to organize.

“We are saying loud and clear to those folks in the Statehouse, whether they are sitting in the governor’s office or the Legislature, we are fed up, and we are not going to take it anymore,” he said. “Today marks the beginning of a new political movement in this state, one that stands in opposition to the kinds of cruel and unnecessary cuts that are devastating New Jersey. One that says to all elected officials, if you want our support, you have to earn it.”