New Jersey: Union Workers Stand Together

Some 10,000 union members and supporters filled the grounds of the state capitol in Trenton, sending a message of solidarity to Wisconsin public workers and some advice to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: stop the attacks on public workers.

Over 10,000 New Jersey state workers braved the rain and winds to protest the governor’s proposals to balance the state budget on workers’ backs. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Busloads of CWAers from Pennsylvania, New York, Virginia, Maryland, D.C. and West Virginia made the trip to stand up with public workers, sending a strong message that workers can’t be divided. Despite the pouring rain, union members and supporters cheered the call for workers to have bargaining rights and jeered at politicians’ efforts to divide workers.

CWA President Larry Cohen told the crowd that, “it’s no surprise that tens of thousands of workers are standing up for good jobs and good communities, sending the message that working and middle-class families won’t give up our rights.”

CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton and many leaders from public and private sector unions also were on hand.

Public workers in New Jersey, including 40,000 CWA represented state workers whose contract expires at the end of June, are facing exactly the same kind of attacks as those in Wisconsin. In fact, Christie has expressed his “admiration” for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s campaign to eliminate workers’ bargaining rights.

Chris Christie is seeking to do the same thing in New Jersey. He has a proposal to legislate health benefits for all public workers that would eliminate bargaining over health care. His budget proposal tries to pit working people against each other by promising to reinstate property tax rebates to seniors and other middle class workers if the state legislature imposes his health care plan on public workers.

He’s calling for cuts in workers’ pensions and additional increased worker contributions. Christie said the state has no intention of making any contributions to the fund. The state had no problem, however, in giving people who earn more than $1 million a $40,000 tax break.

New Jersey workers have been making contributions to their pension plan year in and year out, never missing a payment. The state government, on the other hand, hasn’t made pension payments in the last 13 years.

Christie used New Jersey’s budget situation to slash workers’ rights, eliminating fairness in hiring and promotions and the ability to negotiate furloughs and appeal discipline. If Christie gets his way, the only item left for public workers to bargain over would be wages. And Christie already has said he wants to legislate a cap on any wage increases.

“Dividing the middle-class and pitting New Jerseyans against each other won’t work. All across the country, Americans are coming together to tell the politicians that it is time to stop attacking working families and scapegoating public workers,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA State Director.