Earlier this week the Latino Action Network joined with the Women's Political Caucus, Latinas United for Political Empowerment - Political Action Committee, New Jersey Muslim Lawyers Association, Latino Coalition of Monmouth County, and Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO to file an amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief in In re Contest of November 8, 2011 General Election of Office of New Jersey General Assembly, Fourth Legislative District, the New Jersey Supreme Court case in which Gabriela Mosquera's election as 4th District Assemblywoman in November 2011 is being challenged despite her having won more votes than her opponents.
On Wednesday, January 26, 2012 we heard that the Supreme Court has accepted our amicus brief.
One of her opponents, Shelley Lovett, argues that because Ms. Mosquera moved to the 4th District 11 months prior to the election, she violated a requirement in the New Jersey Constitution that all candidates must live in their district for at least a year. However, a federal judge back in 2002 had held that provision invalid under the United States Constitution's Equal Protection Clause. As such the Secretary of State (Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno) had told Ms. Mosquera that she could run for office, without challenge, and in fact every candidate since 2002 has been told the same thing.
....my favorite quote from all the comments posted to my question to the progressive Blue Jersey audience: "Should we try again?" on marriage equality. I believe we have 21 votes in the Senate, but I'm not sharing names at this point for some good strategic reasons. Am talking to Steve Goldstein and to Ray Lesniak along with all of you. We hope to make a decision by the Fall on whether we move ahead now; wait for lame duck; or wait for the new January session. Will continue the discussion.
After a late-night last night of the official welcoming reception at the Democratic State Conference, followed by a Hudson County Dems-sponsored shindig, followed by Atlantic City bar-hopping and after-parties, this morning was the convention's official Welcome Breakfast. And it turned into something of an ad hoc solidarity rally, because the first buzz topic that needed to be addressed was why and how the Democrats moved a conference scheduled for weeks at the Tropicana Casino, to Bally's. You already heard about some of this. But NJDSC Chair John Wisniewski gave an account of the tense week of not knowing and hoping for a resolution, then getting the word that wasn't going to happen in time. And nobody here would cross a picket line if there was one, or much want to reward Tropicana's owner with conference business if they were playing hardball with workers who already gave concessions. Tropicana's owner is Carl Icahn, the real-life inspiration for Wall Street's "Greed is Good" Gordon Gekko.
AFL-CIO NJ President Charlie Wowkanech took the stage to talk about the labor dispute at the Trop, and the flurry of calls between labor and Wisniewski and talks were disintegrating.
There's some irony that this breakfast was so union-focused. Steve Sweeney is the event's first-listed sponsor but Sweeney - who carries the title of General Organizer, International Association of Ironworkers - wasn't here. I don't know why or have any theories why. Sweeney is of course at the top of a short list of Democrats many union members resent. The subject of unflattering protest signs at the huge Trenton rally of union firefighters and cops in March. The recipient of a large inflatable rat outside his office 2 years ago, a pointed gesture of disrespect. But that isn't much of a discussion here; these conferences take on a rah-rah attitude of Democratic unity, win in November, and let's argue the details later.
Either way, NJDSC's decision, chaotic as it is to move hundreds of people to a conference across town, was the right one. AFL-CIO's Charlie Wowkanech on labor's tense week, and the NJDSC's:
When the New Jersey State Department of Education was competing for $400 million in federal funds last Spring, then-Education Commissioner Brett Schundler reached an agreement with the teachers’ union on an approach to utilize the money. This didn’t sit well with Governor Christie, who abhors workers, especially those in unions. Consequently, Schundler was fired for having the temerity to negotiate with the union, Christie’s minions modified the grant application at the last minute, and New Jersey lost out on the federal funds.
This action apparently did not go unnoticed by Department of Transportation Commissioner James Simpson. At a hearing of the Assembly State Governance Committee today, it became apparent that Simpson got the message and in the last several months his office went from cooperation to obstruction in dealing with the toll collectors on the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.
While the hearings, which were held in a packed meeting room, were ostensibly billed as a discussion of the privatization of toll collection services, it became quickly apparent that this initiative is another move by the Christie administration to punish union workers.
UPDATE: I'll post video I just got - after the jump.
Last night, members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), who are currently engaged in tough negotiations with the state, joined by members of NJEA, AFL-CIO, SEIU, IFPTE and other unions, launched the first in a series of efforts calling on legislators to stand up for the basic collective bargaining rights of public workers.
Working families in NJ are fighting to stop a proposal to unilaterally strip health care benefits out of the collective bargaining process. And the first legislator to feel the unions' unity was Senator Teresa Ruiz. Union members congregated outside her offices in Newark last night. Here are some pictures:
.....says it all! "Disgusting", "Idealogue", "Arrogant", "Jerry Springer Show". And that's before one even reads the accompanying article. OK. So the sides are definitely drawn if in a rather inelegant manner.
And let's skip to the last quote in the article from Mike DuHaime: "Some of them (the legislature) are going to want to work with the Governor," he said. "Some of them are just going to want to throw stones."
So does this quote mean that the Governor, himself, has no responsibility to work with the legislature? In fact, though I don't want to be accused of "throwing stones", I believe this Governor would like to make the legislature as irrelevant as possible. His vetoes of bills which some could say for completely illogical reasons (read medicaid funding which won't cost the state any money).
I am generally not a "conspiracy theorist", but the undermining of our press corps (read: "elitist" and unfunding NJN); the undermining of our Judiciary: (read: former Supreme Court Justice John Wallace and accolades to current Justice Rivera-Soto), the undermining of public employees, particularly our teachers (read: No I won't let the NJEA support our request for $400 million from the feds even if it's helpful); his sometimes "selective" rooting out of government waste and fraud (read: fill in the blanks yourself); refusal of cabinet members to appear before legislative committees (read: the Treasurer's not appearing at the Assembly Budget Committee); his administration's continually stonewalling legitimate OPRA requests (read: too many to list) - all leads me (and I hope others) to examine a troubling and developing pattern. How about giving tax money (through EDA) to a company to move from Seacaucus to Newark? (read: how does this help New Jersey's economy?)
Does this Governor really believe that, given his national press reviews and his "Jersey Style" gravitas, he can steer this State unilaterally without much regard for the other two branches of government? Do we in the Legislature have the intellectual ability and the guts to stand up and start calling attention to this troubling pattern?
I am anxious to hear from Blue Jersey readers on whether you think we are on to something here, or have I really fallen prey to "conspiracy theories"? If I'm right about looking at this as a pattern, how do we go about it?
Assembly Race to the Top hearing is still going on. Listen here LIVE.
Prepping for Labor Day's morning News Roundup, I pulled a lot of great national Op-Eds about labor and the world of work. Mother Jones' profile of Mother Jones. AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka reminding me of the "greeters" at Wal-Mart. Later in the day, Michael Moore hit us (and Rahm Emanuel) with humor, and Roger Ebert & Open Left provided the soundtrack.
But I only linked the national stuff when I gave Google "Labor Day + NJ" I got mostly weather. Beach traffic. So, here I am.
Where are the great New Jersey labor writers?
Look, I admit ignorance here. My father was a union organizer, back when that got you blacklisted, and tracked by Sen. Joe McCarthy. My mother, in a teachers union. But I have never been a union member, despite my sometime nickname Norma Rae. And I frankly think the days of Which Side Are You On? have grown more complicated in this suburbanized state where a union-busting governor pits the rest of us against union workers and tells us they're our trouble. More complicated because sometimes unions are, as E.J. Dionne, Jr. points out (in a post outing himself as a union romantic), union movements can have failures; corruption, undemocratic action, some union contracts excessive, "solidarity" that can turn into intimidation.
This site is dedicated decoding the political zeitgeist, but I'm convinced we're not telling the whole story. The issues, problems, and victories of work, of working people, and of unions? Women's wages. Immigrant working conditions. Cooperation/struggles between unions. Successes. Failures. Challenges. Stories.
Who is staying up late nights thinking about this? Who wants to write about that here? Drop us a line.
Teaneck, a progressive community, not only feels the pain of the recession but has a tradition as a willing host for protest demonstrations. With attention now moving away from health care reform, President Obama and congress have to address the public's most pressing three concerns: Jobs, Jobs, and Jobs.AFL-CIO has launched a nation-wide series of rallies "Good Jobs Now! - Make Wall Street Pay." Teaneck was a site last night for 30 demonstrators. It was in front of a branch of Bank of America which brought upon itself congressional and criminal investigations and large fines over its purchase of Merrill-Lynch and sub-prime lender Countrywide.
"Good Jobs Now!" is a message which President Obama and congress need to hear and act upon. NJ union and non-union members are suffering.Last week the President signed into law a jobs bill passed by the Senate with a vote of 68-29. It gained Republican support because it was emasculated to provide tax relief to businesses hiring unemployed workers. This indirect route of fostering employment is not the strong measure needed. Unemployment remains very high (US: 10.4%, NJ 10:3%).Americans without a job, concerned about losing their job, reduced to a part-time position, or down-sized to a minimum wage role expect more. If the President focuses on jobs and does something about it, he will garner public support for other landmark legislation. If people perceive him as disinterested, he should update his resume for a new position in 2013.
Union workers in the Teaneck demonstration were well aware of how banks have ripped us off. Their populist slogan is "Make Wall Street Pay." Tim Geithner, Secretary of the Treasury, has never understood this populist rage. President Obama and congress must understand it to survive. As AFL-CIO says in its flyer: "Big Wall Street banks helped cause the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Millions have lost their jobs, homes and retirement savings. But the biggest banks gave their execs $145 billion in pay and bonuses last year." That makes me mad, and it should make Obama mad.
I hope Obama joins in the spirit of the Teaneck demonstrators and repeats frequently that movie moment when Howard Beale screams, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore."
On Thursday, March 18, 2010, union members and community allies will join together at Owen Grundy Park in Jersey City to demand good jobs now. America needs 11 million jobs and big Wall Street banks should pay to rebuild jobs and the economy they helped destroy.
The rally will be held from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm at Owen Grundy Park at Exchange Place in the heart of Jersey City's financial district, right across the Hudson River from Wall Street.
Let us know you'll be there to fight for good jobs. Register here.
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other union leaders will pay a visit to New Jersey tomorrow, accompanying Corzine as he goes on an Election Day get-out-the-vote bus tour. In addition, union member-to-member outreach tomorrow will involve 15,000 volunteers reaching out to some 225,000 union household voters through 500 phone banks, door-to-door canvassing and 125 worksite leafleting visits. This final push builds on several weeks of volunteer effort by union members educating other union members about Corzine, Christie and the stakes in tomorrow's election.
I plan to be in Cherry Hill when Governor Corzine holds a meet and greet with labor before they head out to get out the vote.
Vice President Joe Biden is expected to campaign for Gov. Jon Corzine at a union event in Atlantic City next week, it was announced today.
Biden will appear alongside the Democratic governor at the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Legislative Conference at the Borgata on Wednesday, according to Corzine's campaign.
The Governor will need a good turnout from union voters. Here's more about the appearance:
Biden and Corzine are scheduled to address more than 600 union members between 9 a.m. and noon, Oct. 7. Other speakers then and Oct. 6 will rally members for the governor and the 70 candidates endorsed by the union.
Biden joined Corzine as he kicked off his campaign back in June. Here is some video of that appearance:
Glad to hear Rep. Pallone talk about a public option in our health care system. Also, don't miss the fact that the congressman's now twittering (read through to the end). So are we. -- promoted by Rosi
We're working hard in our drive to "Make Health Care Work For New Jersey." Last Thursday, I was in Trenton with my good friend, AFL-CIO President Charlie Wowkanech, where we heard from working families confronted with America's broken health care system. Their stories really hammered home how, now more than ever, we need comprehensive health reform.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congressman John Adler attended the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO Central Labor Council Meeting tonight at the Boathouse in Pennsauken.
Adler talked about the pride he had in helping to pass the Ledbetter Fair pay act and SCHIP legislation. He talked about the need for the stimulus package.
The Majority Leader recounted his path to Congress talking about how Labor has stood with the Democrats even when the Democrats weren't necessarily able to deliver because they shared a common belief. He stressed how impressed he has been with Congressman Adler. Hoyer then talked about the Free Choice legislation pointing out that the House had passed it in 2006, but it couldn't get through the Senate. He said the Congress would keep fighting for working families and thanks them for the continued support:
"We would like to negotiate a salary freeze as opposed to turning to more difficult issues, although ones that we believe we can deal with, and those are furloughs and layoffs," Corzine said. "Layoffs are a very complicated process, take five or six months to actually get into place and are extraordinarily disruptive, but if necessary we can go there."
The unions didn't like the threats and vowed to fight:
"Although we will always work with the governor to find ways to both raise revenues and save money, we are not going to reopen our contracts. Those contracts were based on the principle of mutual sacrifice, with workers agreeing to make increased contributions to the cost of health care and pensions, in return for modest wage increases," said Sheryl Gordon, executive director of AFSCME union Council 1.
"We will not reopen the contract," said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA's New Jersey director. "Of course we worry about layoffs, but it would be such a bad and terrible thing to do to workers during a recession, it just doesn't make any sense. We're so understaffed, and there's a greater need for public services right now."
Rae Roeder, president of CWA union Local 1033, said Corzine hasn't shown the public any substantial proof in his first three years in office of how he trimmed government spending on things such as paid consultants and private firms.
"Bottom line, no governor is going to threaten myself or any of the workers. We're tired of his threats and the innuendos and everything else. When the governor said, 'This is the way it is, or else' -- or else, mister, or else maybe you ought to pack up your bag over your failed policies over the last four years and go. Maybe that's what you should do," Roeder said.
State workers negotiated in good faith for changes in their last contract, but it's looking like everyone is going to feel the pain of the budget ax. People can argue back and forth about the poor decisions that put us in this situation, but it's where we stand. In a case of no desirable options, many people may find themselves asking which is worse: wage freezes or layoffs? There are plenty of people on the unemployment rolls who would gladly have settled for a wage freeze. With revenues continuing to tumble and our structural problems still in place, this may be the best offer they get.
In 2007, more than 4,000 casino dealers and slot technicians at four Atlantic City casinos put there jobs on the line to form a union with the United Auto Workers, and were victorious in gaining a Voice At Work. One year later, these workers are still without a contract.
On June 21, please join the Bergen County Central Trades and Labor Council, AFL-CIO, New Jersey State AFL-CIO, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, and our union brothers and sisters from throughout the Northeast region of the U.S., as we march through Atlantic City to remind the casino owners that Atlantic City is, and will always be, a union city!
The Bergen and Hudson County Central Labor Councils will be providing free transportation to the rally. We will be departing from the Meadowlands Sports Complex Parking Lot Y (Located Northwest of the Race Track) at 9:00 am.
Join the Bergen County Central Trades and Labor Council, AFL-CIO at 7:00 pm on Friday, February 1 as we host a special screening of the award winning documentary Sicko at Englewood Public Library located at 31 Engle St in Englewood, NJ. This screening is part of the AFL-CIO's campaign to fight for a unique American plan for secure, high-quality health care for all.
This is important. The Senate committee vote is on Monday, so contact your legislators today, especially if you're represented by Senators Redd, Ruiz, Stack, or Cunningham. Promoted from the diaries. -- Juan
Last year, Family Leave Insurance almost became a reality in New Jersey. While the bill failed to pass last legislative session, this is the farthest it had moved through the legislative process since it was first introduced in 1992. Let's keep up the momentum to pass this important bill.
On Monday, January 28, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee will hold hearings on Family Leave Insurance (S786). Please take a moment to send the members of the committee a letter asking them support Family Leave Insurance. This is the first step to passing this critical piece of legislation.
The following is a letter to the editor that appeared in the Dec 6 issue of the Bergen Record from Bergen CLC President Charlie Mattson regarding Paid Family Leave Insurance.
Misinformation on family leave
Regarding "Business community shunning family leave deal" (Business, Page B-1, Nov. 28):
The misinformation by the business community on paid family leave is astounding. This bill does not give workers any extra rights or privileges; it only adds a financial component to an already existing law. The Family and Medical Leave Act states that a covered employer must grant an eligible employee up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a sick loved one, a newborn child or a newly adopted child.
Join the Bergen County Central Trades and Labor Council, AFL-CIO in our support for Paid Family Leave Insurance Legislation (S-2249/A3812). The bill is currently stuck in the Assembly Labor Committee and is still not scheduled on their agenda.
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Join the Bergen County Central Trades and Labor Council, AFL-CIO at 7:00 pm on Friday, February 1 as we host a special screening of the award winning documentary Sicko at Englewood Public Library located at 31 Engle St in Englewood, NJ. This screening is part of the AFL-CIO's campaign to fight for a unique American plan for secure, high-quality health care for all.
