Who will blink first in state contract talks?
Gov. Corzine told the Legislature last fall to back off on legislation that would reduce pensions and health benefits for public employees, saying any changes should be handled through collective bargaining. Corzine wants to reach an agreement with the 50,000 workers whose contracts expire in June prior to his introduction of the 2007-08 budget later this month.
From all accounts, talks aren't progressing well. No surprise there. According to an AP report last week, the state offered no raises for the first two years of the new contract and increases of 1.25 percent for the final two years. A union official said the state also was seeking significant concessions in health care and pensions.
What does the union want? According to CWA Local 1037 president Hetty Rosenstein, "We want money every year of the contract with no wage freezes, and we must protect the integrity and structure of our pension plan." Corzine's ex-girlfriend, CWA Local 10334 president Carla Katz, says, "We are steadfast in our resolve to protect our members' pension and health benefits.
The outcome of these negotiations will tell you all you need to know about how serious Corzine is about bringing public employees salaries and benefits under control.
From all accounts, talks aren't progressing well. No surprise there. According to an AP report last week, the state offered no raises for the first two years of the new contract and increases of 1.25 percent for the final two years. A union official said the state also was seeking significant concessions in health care and pensions.
What does the union want? According to CWA Local 1037 president Hetty Rosenstein, "We want money every year of the contract with no wage freezes, and we must protect the integrity and structure of our pension plan." Corzine's ex-girlfriend, CWA Local 10334 president Carla Katz, says, "We are steadfast in our resolve to protect our members' pension and health benefits.
The outcome of these negotiations will tell you all you need to know about how serious Corzine is about bringing public employees salaries and benefits under control.
posted by Randy Bergmann at 1:54 PM
15 Comments:
When push comes to shove, I'm betting that Carla will literally take one for the team and do that "special something-something" that Jon likes so much. Jon will then cave and next year the liberals and those who feed at the public trough will be telling us once again that we don't pay our "fair share" in taxes here in New Jersey.
This is a battle that will create a permanent rift between the Democratic Party and the State Worker Unions.
The lines in the sand were drawn months ago.
The Union staked out it's position of no givebacks. Any health care givebacks agreed to by the Union leadership will result in those CWA presidents being voted out of office.
They know this very well.
At the same time Corzine vowed to make State Workers pay for their health care benefits. If he does not produce he will hae to battle the Legislature since they need thse givebacks to make the coming budget work.
The " word" is that Corzine stated that he will get health care concessions. The " word" also is that the CWA leadership knows the ycannot win the battle of public opinion and are trying to find a way to sell this to their membership.
Don't let anyone tell you anything different. The contract negotiations will come down to one thing, health care givebacks.
Corzine wants state workers to pay for their health benefits and state workers were told months ago by their leadership that this would never be agreed upon.
Pensions and wage increases are secondary to this issue.
The money gained on health care givebacks will be needed to balance the budget this year.
The membership , no matter what the leadership says, will not accept health care givebacks.
There will be a strike over this issue come June 30.
I hope there is a strike and the State hires replacement workers who will be more than willing to pay their fair share of their health insurance costs. State workers are overcompensated. The pay and benefits they receive should be comparable to what those in the private sector receive. The traditional pension plan should be scrapped for new workers and replaced with a 401K type retirement plan that is so common in the private sector.
teachers would go out on strike as well,parents would never let that happen.they would agree to anything just to keep kids in school
It is illegal for teachers to strike. Just ask those Middletown teachers who spent some time in the Monmouth County Jail a few years ago and then learned the hard way that you can't expunge certain matters from your criminal record. (e.g., being found in contempt of court for refusing to go back to work)
I, for one, would love to see some more teachers cited for contempt and led away in handcuffs. I think it would make for a great civics lesson for their students.
No contract , no work.
CWA State Workers, those who work in psych hospitals, veterans homes, developmental centers, prisons, etc. are the people who are being targeted by Corzine.
They are the people who are being blamed for all the financial problems of the State.
This is of course a lie!
I am not NJEA. Complain to them about high property taxes , not me.
If there is no contract there will be no work.
This is not Mississippi or Alabama. We will not allow the standards that have been fought for over many years just to be taken away by " teflon jon" .
State taxes are too high because the State overcompensates state workers. Reduce the wages, benefits and pensions that state employees receive and lower state taxes.
Your State Income tax has not changed in years.
That is where I get my pay and benefit plan taken from.
CWA State Workers are not overcompensated but instead are compensated based on what the State can afford.
You want to lower teachers salaries, go after the NJEA and local school boards.
Lower Property taxes? Control Local governemnt costs.
Don't blame CWA State Workers for all of the other ills in this State.
The contracts bargained at the local school level are done by teachers and school board members. If the public was upset about the amount of money spent in their schools then school budgets would be defeated. It only takes about 5 or 6 percent of the population to vote against the school budget to defeat it. Apparently, most people at worst show indifference to the school budgets in NJ and the majority of people who vote approve the budgets.
The reason why property taxes have increased is very simple. It is not because teachers are getting 10% raises, which they are not; it is because the State has reduced aid to the schools. Most teacher contracts have actually reduced the percentage of salary increases over the past few years due to the reduction in state aid. Since the State has kept their aid to the schools flat, the tax burden has moved from the state to property taxes. In reality property taxes have increased, on account of the State not your local school board. People should press the State to increase the funding of schools and then your property taxes will be reduced.
Funding of schools is plentiful. It is the distribution of that funding that needs to be fixed.
Again, this is not a problem that CWA State Workers should be burdened with during their contract negotiations.
Every time there is a problem somewhere else the argument goes back to those " fat cat " State Workers.
Fix the funding programs !
Fix the Abbott distribution !
My contract and my Health benefit plan are in no way related to state funding of schools to keep down property taxes.
I will admit. I am writing this because MY CWA LEADERS HAVE FAILED IN GETTING THIS BASIC ARGUMENT OUT TO THE PUBLIC !
I am overjoyed that I can voice my opinion on this blog. In some small way maybe people will begin to understand that the average CWA state worker is not rich, does not have outrageous benefits, and most of all is not public enemy #1 !
I am glad to see that you have changed your tone from the previous posts. You attacked the NJEA and teachers by stating "You want to lower teachers salaries, go after the NJEA and local school boards" and "I am not NJEA. Complain to them about high property taxes , not me." I believe if push came to shove and that CWA and NJEA became hostile to each other, the state workers would be at the losing end of that squabble. Remember the average teacher is also not rich.
High Property taxes and taxes in general are all connected. If there was stable state funding for schools over the past 7 years, then property taxes would not have jumped up and there would be much less focus on worker's health benefits and pensions at this stage. Possibly, changing the funding formula will assist in lowering property taxes. However, I imagine that some local school districts will become winners and other losers in a new funding formula so it will depend on where you live.
The state needs to take a look at some of the problems that have led to the current situation. The mistake that was made over the past 15 years was to lower taxes and to begin to increase the use of bonding to fund govt. functions. I am all for lowering taxes but you can not do that by stretching out your debt. Eventually, you must pay the piper. You can lower taxes but you also must lower your spending, whether that is by reducing benefits to workers, providing less services, or in other ways.
In contract negotiations the funding source of the contract must be defined.
In the case of the CWA State Worker contract the funding source has been defined incorrectly by the Governor. The CWA Union Leadership have allowed him to tell the public that CWA Pensions and Benefits directly cause high property taxes. Their failure to " correct the record" has led to the general public siding with Corzine.
State Taxes pay State workers. There is enough State Tax money taken in each year to give the State Union employees a fair contract. Not a break the bank contract , but a fair contract.
So long as Corzine and others continue to push the property tax rhetoric into the CWA negotiations, and so long as the shortsighted CWA leaders allow him to control public opinion, a fair contract will never be attained.
Both Corzine and the CWA leaders are going to be surprised at the militancy of the average union member if they reach a tentative agreement this week on a " giveback" contract and ask the membership to ratify it.
"Your state income tax has not changed in years." -- Solidarity
What about a half a dozen other state taxes that I have to pay? I am certainly paying more in those state taxes. State taxes are too high in New Jersey. They need to be lowered. Slash the wages and benefits paid to overcompensated State workers!
JUST AS PREDICTED! THE CWA UNION LEADERSHIP MADE A BIG SPLASH BY GETTING IN BED WITH THE NJEA AND NOW THEY GOT STABBED IN THE BACK!
THE NJEA IS OUT TO PROTECT THEIR MEMBERSHIP AND COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE CWA STATE WORKER UNIONS.
BUT THE CWA LEADERSHIP WANTED TO BE BIG TIMERS AND NOW THEY HAVE A PROBLEM.
State contract talks hit a hurdle on early-retirement issue
Saturday, February 17, 2007
BY JOE DONOHUE
Star-Ledger Staff
After two weeks of intense negotiations, contract talks between the Corzine administration and state worker unions halted early yesterday morning.
While the impasse may be temporary, those familiar with the talks say it was aggravated by a dispute over the minimum age for early retirement, which is now 55.
Two sources familiar with the talks say state worker unions are upset because they believe the Corzine administration has reached a secret deal with the New Jersey Education Association teachers union to require new employees to reach age 60 and have 25 years of service before retiring. Under that scenario, teachers insured through the state's health plan would not be forced to contribute to their health insurance.
Leaders of three state worker unions now in salary talks with the administration found out about it Thursday night, which added tension to their negotiations, the sources said. Corzine is seeking concessions from state workers on both the retirement age and contributions to the health plans.
The early retirement age flap, and a lack of progress on other fronts, led to the talks ending around 2 a.m. yesterday morning, the sources said.
Lynn Maher, the NJEA's spokeswoman, would not comment when asked if her union had talked with the Corzine administration. While the NJEA does not conduct collective bargaining for local units, it has historically lobbied on legislation that affects teacher benefits statewide. The state oversees the teachers' pension fund, and it manages a health insurance fund that insures about half the teachers.
Brendan Gilfillan, Corzine's spokesman, declined to comment on the status of state worker negotiations. "This is a day-to-day process, and the administration will continue to work diligently towards an equitable solution."
Robert Master, political director for the Communications Workers of America, the largest state worker union, also refused to comment on negotiations, and would not discuss any dispute with the teachers union. "I can't talk for NJEA," he said.
While no new talks were scheduled for the weekend, Master said he views the hiatus as more of a breather than a breakdown.
"I think both sides are making a good faith effort to figure out if there's a deal there that protects the interest of our members and meets the needs of the public," he said. "That continues to be the tone of the negotiations."
Corzine has expressed hope that he can wrap up salary talks, which began in September, before he gives his budget speech on Thursday. In December, he asked legislative leaders to withdraw proposed legislation to trim public employee health and pension benefits as one way to cut property taxes. Those proposals included legislation to raise the early retirement age. The governor insisted it was better for him to seek concessions in the context of the ongoing negotiations.
Corzine's opening position included a two-year wage freeze and givebacks of holidays as well as asking employees to pay more of their health benefits, according to an administration official with knowledge of the talks.
The current contract, which was negotiated in 2003 when the state faced an even bigger deficit, froze wages for one year, then provided a total increase of 11.5 percent over the final three years.
In Pennsylvania last month, Gov. Edward Rendell agreed to a contract with state workers that provided a $1,250 first-year bonus, followed by wage increases totaling 10 percent in the final three years.
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