Community Education Center Workers Join CWA in Trenton

Workers at the Bo Robinson Community Education Center in Trenton, N.J., wanted a union and they overwhelmed management's efforts to stop them. The workers at the privately-run center that helps former corrections prisoners transition back into society voted unanimously, 54-0, last week, for CWA Local 1040. The unit has 69 workers total.

Management pulled out all stops to defeat the workers' campaign with regular captive audience meetings and multiple distributions of anti-union literature. Two weeks before the election, the company brought workers in from another location, claiming they were needed "if there was a strike."

"The workers stayed united and could not be swayed from their hunger to get a voice on the job," said Local 1040 organizer Connie English, who with local staff representative Chris Young, assisted the campaign. Fair pay, job security, respect, and an end to arbitrary treatment were the issues driving the workers' campaign.

Local 1040 now is assisting the 50 workers in the center's professional unit who also want union representation.