New Jersey State Workers Win Funding for Pensions

CWA-represented New Jersey state workers won a double victory on July 6 when lawmakers struck a deal with Gov. John Corzine (D) to pass his $31 billion budget and end a shutdown of state services.

First, the governor announced that 45,000 state workers who had been furloughed since July 1 would be paid as if they had worked. Second, the budget contains $1.1 billion for payment into the workers' pension plan, making a good start on the governor's promise to fully fund pensions. The plan has faced a $12.1 billion shortfall since 1994 when Republican Gov. Christie Whitman raided pension funds to pay for a tax cut for the wealthy.

Corzine ordered a shutdown of the state government at the beginning of the month and furloughed all non-essential state employees because there was no money to pay them. By state law, no funds can be expended after July 1 if there is not a balanced budget in place.

The deal struck between Corzine and lawmakers, ending the shutdown, approved both the budget and a 1-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax hike. It mandates that about $600 million will go toward property tax relief. The rest will go into the general fund, including the $1.1 billion for pensions.

CWA District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton praised the governor's decision to pay the furloughed workers, but said the victory came, "because our locals in New Jersey had thousands of people at the state house every day of the shutdown."

New Jersey locals have conducted an ongoing mobilization for full funding of the Public Employee Retirement System and other public worker pension plans