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Corzine's Self-Inflicted Wounds

by: princetonblue

Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 03:16:23 PM EDT

I finally found time to read the CWA agreement and I was flabbergasted. It seems that CWA got a very good deal. There is a postponement of salary raises for 18 months and a deferral of 8 days pay until one's retirement (paid at the salary rate upon retirement), so in total CWA loses 4 days of pay. This is a concession, but since there will be no layoffs, it seems like a very good agreement for CWA.

What I can't figure out is why the Governor picked a 8 month fight with CWA if this was all he wanted to achieve. He's created a lot of bad blood with union members and can now be portrayed by Christie as caving in to CWA interests. And it was so unnecessary. I would think that had the Governor presented this agreement to CWA last December or January, he could have gotten an agreement. And even if CWA hadn't agreed, is this agreement worth the public perception problem that the Governor has created for himself in the upcoming election?

I will be voting for Gov. Corzine in the fall, but I do think Christie is correct when he says that this agreement is a bad one for New Jersey and that it will cost more money in the long term than it saves in the short term. I like the Governor but I think he has a tin ear for politics. If he was going to pick the fight with CWA, he had to know he needed to have some real achievement to show for it. Delaying a pay increase by 18 months doesn't seem like the achievement that voters want to see.

-pb

princetonblue :: Corzine's Self-Inflicted Wounds

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Corzine's Self-Inflicted Wounds | 7 comments

Thurman Hart... (0.00 / 0)

Had a good take on it at NJvoices. His opinion was that the governor was forced to cave due to Joe Biden in town, and the threat of picketing.
(he also noted that it wasn't good public policy).
I don't have the link, but you can look it up there.

"Where ever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai

by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 21:07:08 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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Here is (0.00 / 0)

Thurman's take on the matter.

by: Jason Springer @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 22:09:43 PM UTC

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Thanks for the link (0.00 / 0)

I hadn't read Thurman's column before but it's very similar.

-pb

by: princetonblue @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 01:31:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

thurman hart.... (4.00 / 3)

.....does anyone miss him as much as i do?

activist for hire.

by: Jay Lassiter @ Sun Jun 14, 2009 at 23:12:52 PM UTC

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Big Thurman fan... (0.00 / 0)

"Where ever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai

by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Mon Jun 15, 2009 at 17:25:50 PM UTC

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Miss Tex? (0.00 / 0)

Yup. Shore do, pard. There's a good heart beating in that chest.

The nom de plume has a long and distinguished history.

by: Tandalayo Scheisskopf @ Fri Jun 19, 2009 at 12:47:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Corzine caved for no reason (3.00 / 1)

Back in January Corzine gave his personal " non public " pledge to the CWA leadership that if they agreed to a strict wage freeze he would make sure there were not layoffs. Furloughs were never even discussed in January.

Corzine also knew that an Article in the contract gave him and the Legislature the right to not fund the contract if it was deemed necessary during a financial crisis.

CWA refused the deal and went public with their anger.

Corzine always had all the cards in this fight.

Why he agreed to appear weak last week is a mystery. He gave away the store on this one and CWA had nothing " in their hand" .

CWA has no public support and , as I stated many times , had very little membership support in the wage freeze and furlough fight.

Membership would have taken the January deal in a second.

Christie would be a fool not to use this " cave" in campaign adds.

CWA may have won a battle with Corzine but if Corzine loses they will have lost the war. Christie is well aware of Article 41 and he will not fund the deferred wage increase.

State worker union leadership just does not get it. The public can't stand them and by them "holding up" Corzine they make him look even worse. He is their only friend in government and if he loses they have no one to turn to.

Corzine made a big mistake in getting into bed with that crowd. He looks weak and he looks like a lackey.

by: firstamend07 @ Sat Jun 13, 2009 at 23:27:44 PM UTC

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Corzine's Self-Inflicted Wounds | 7 comments