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New Jersey Law Bans Outsourcing By State Contractors
Companies under contract with the state of New Jersey won't be able to send work outside the United States under a new law that CWA and other unions lobbied to pass to save American jobs.
"With this bill, we are sending a clear message that if a company wants to take jobs from our hard-working families and send them overseas, then it will not do business with the state," Acting Gov. Richard Codey said as he signed the bill May 6.
The law requires that all services under state contract or subcontract must be performed within the United States. Studies show that New Jersey could lose nearly a half-million jobs to outsourcing in areas of office support, computer and math skills, business and finance, according to media reports.
"This bill is good for the state, the workers and those needing government services," CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. "CWA locals and District 1 staff are to be commended on getting this through."
New Jersey joins Alabama, Illinois and Tennessee in enacting legislation barring or discouraging outsourcing, and many other state legislatures are considering similar bills, according to WashTech-CWA. In addition, Washington state lawmakers recently voted to set up a task force to investigate the extent of outsourcing and its effect on their state.
The New Jersey bill requires that only American citizens and persons authorized to work in the United States can provide contracted services. It applies to the executive and legislative branches of government, as well as any independent state authority, commission or agency authorized to enter into a contract on behalf of the state. It does not cover county, municipal or school district contracts.
State senators who sponsored the bill said outsourcing is particularly offensive at a time when thousands of New Jersey residents are jobless.
"It is foolish for the state to send taxpayer dollars abroad to hire workers in India, China or Indonesia when these same jobs can be performed by the unemployed here in the United States," Senator Shirley Turner said. "Not only are we losing the benefits those jobs bring to the individual, but we also lose the tax and economic growth benefits those jobs bring to the state."
"With this bill, we are sending a clear message that if a company wants to take jobs from our hard-working families and send them overseas, then it will not do business with the state," Acting Gov. Richard Codey said as he signed the bill May 6.
The law requires that all services under state contract or subcontract must be performed within the United States. Studies show that New Jersey could lose nearly a half-million jobs to outsourcing in areas of office support, computer and math skills, business and finance, according to media reports.
"This bill is good for the state, the workers and those needing government services," CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen said. "CWA locals and District 1 staff are to be commended on getting this through."
New Jersey joins Alabama, Illinois and Tennessee in enacting legislation barring or discouraging outsourcing, and many other state legislatures are considering similar bills, according to WashTech-CWA. In addition, Washington state lawmakers recently voted to set up a task force to investigate the extent of outsourcing and its effect on their state.
The New Jersey bill requires that only American citizens and persons authorized to work in the United States can provide contracted services. It applies to the executive and legislative branches of government, as well as any independent state authority, commission or agency authorized to enter into a contract on behalf of the state. It does not cover county, municipal or school district contracts.
State senators who sponsored the bill said outsourcing is particularly offensive at a time when thousands of New Jersey residents are jobless.
"It is foolish for the state to send taxpayer dollars abroad to hire workers in India, China or Indonesia when these same jobs can be performed by the unemployed here in the United States," Senator Shirley Turner said. "Not only are we losing the benefits those jobs bring to the individual, but we also lose the tax and economic growth benefits those jobs bring to the state."