Welcome
to the CWA Local 1032 website.
Local 1032 of the Communications Workers of America represents
public and private sector workers in New Jersey and New
York. We are here to share with you some information about
our union and its members.
Patrick
Kavanagh - Local 1032 President
TA
Ratified
Dear CWA Local 1032 Member
– The
American Arbitration Association has released the
ratification results and I am happy to report that
CWA members in the Administrative/Clerical, Professional,
Primary Level and Higher Level Supervisory bargaining
units have ratified the tentative agreement between
the Union and the State. Local 1032 members voted
overwhelmingly in support of the agreement.
I know
that this has been an extremely difficult time
for our Union and our Local. As we have said throughout,
our priority was to negotiate an agreement that
protects jobs and preserves the integrity of the
collective bargaining agreement during these very
difficult economic times. This agreement does those
things and we are happy that the members have supported
it.
We will begin work immediately
on the implementation of Side Letter 42, which
provides for bringing inspection and design work
at DOT back in-house and we will continue to monitor
all aspects of implementation for this agreement.
Thank you to all Local 1032 stewards
and members who worked hard to get this agreement
ratified!
In Solidarity,
Patrick
Ratification
Results
BARGAINING UNIT
YES
NO
Administrative/Clerical
(A)
1917
1098
Professional (P)
3842
1331
Primary Level Supervisors
(R)
2371
1253
Higher Level Supervisors
(S)
847
396
Click
here May 20th letter from President Kavanagh
on furloughs.
As you know, we have been in negotiations with the
Corzine administration. Our principles throughout
were to protect the integrity of our collective bargaining
agreement, provide for meaningful job security and
insure that any sacrafice be fair and reasonable.
We have reached a tentative agreement that we believe
accomplishes these goals.
The attached letter from District 1 VP Chris Shelton
provides details of the agreement. I encourage you
to read this carefully. We will be scheduling worksite
meetings to go over these details and answer questions.
This tentative agreement is subject to ratification
of the members.
I appreciate everyone's patience and support during
these very difficult times. Make no mistake - we
are sacrificing. But we are also protecting our contractual
wage rates and protecting our members jobs.
UPDATE: Appellate Court Ruling Says State cannot
Stagger Furloughs
To: All CWA Local 1032 Members:
The Appellate Court has issued a ruling in
our application for a Stay of the Furlough
Rule. The Court said that it is likely that
the Temporary Rule violates workers' layoff
and seniority rights under the law. The Court
will only allow furloughs where an entire department
shuts down on the same day. The State cannot
stagger furloughs. We do not know exactly how
the State will respond but this once again
points out that the Corzine Administration
should be addressing these issues in talks
with the Union and not by acting unilaterally.
As you know, we have also filed an Unfair Labor
Practice at PERC claiming that the State is
using involuntary furloughs to unilaterally
cut salaries and hours of work and in so doing
violates collective bargaining. A hearing in
this matter has not yet been scheduled. We
will have more information on the Court ruling
and the PERC filing as it becomes available.
In the meantime, we must still plan on attending
the public hearing on April 23. The State is
likely to appeal the court's decision and the
permanent rule is still being reviewed. We
must be there. All out April 23 - Public Hearing,
Lawrenceville Armory 6 P.M. See your steward
or
call the Local (1 800 882 1032) for more
information
On
March 25, 2009, with 24 hours notice, the Civil
Service Commission passed emergency rules that
permit “temporary layoffs.” These
rules are designed to permit Local, County and
State government to order unilateral furloughs
of any time period without regard for seniority
or bumping rights. The rules allow management to
exempt some workers and not others and they provide
for NO negotiations.
Now they want to make the
EMERGENCY rules permanent.
Come to the public hearing
on April 23. Click
here for information 104k
"Contrary
to reports in the media that there was a
deal reached with the Administration, CWA has
not made any agreements with
respect to wage freezes, furloughs, or layoffs.
In fact, there have been no
negotiations with the Administration over any
of these issues. We remain
committed to protetcting collective bargaining
and enforcing our contract."
Because A Two Day Furlough
is Just the Tip of the Iceberg - And it Doesn't
Protect Our Jobs! Read
the flyer 460k
CWA Bulletin – Response
to Governor Corzine’s Press Conference
Governor Corzine
held a Press Conference at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
February 17, at which he announced that he intends
to furlough State Workers for 2 days during this
fiscal year: one day in May and one day in June.
He further stated that unless the State Worker
unions agreed to a wage freeze there would be
further furloughs and possibly layoffs.
CWA’s elected
leadership will be meeting and talking over the
next several days to address the current crisis.
While we recognize that there is an economic crisis,
we do not believe that low and middle-income workers
should carry the brunt of the burden.
We believe the following:
1. We have a contract
and it should be respected;
2. Unilateral furloughs
are a violation of that contract. We will oppose
them;
3. By furloughing
our members, the Governor will save $35 million.
That is not a lot of money in terms of plugging
the hole in the budget, but it is a great deal
of money for us. The Governor can save many millions
more dollars by cutting privatization contracts
that serve the public poorly. CWA will be putting
out a report on those savings shortly.
4. Cuts in wages
during a recession just worsen the economy. They
are penny wise and pound-foolish.
We know that talk
of furloughs and layoffs is very nerve wracking
for you and for your family. We will fight for
every job and we will keep you up to date so that
you know what is going on.
Thank you for your
patience and continued support.
CWA’s
Statement to the Press Conference Concerning Furloughs
"The Governor's
sudden and unilateral decision to impose furloughs
on state workers violates our contract and represents
an assault on our collective bargaining relationship
with the State. Once again, Governor Corzine is
addressing this historic crisis by making middle
and low income New Jerseyans bear the burden of
Wall Street's shenanigans, while seeking no sacrifices
from the wealthiest citizens of the state.
"The actual
dollars that will be saved by furloughing state
workers will provide little relief to the state
- but it will cause a tremendous hardship for
our members who live pay check to pay check and
whose wages go directly back into the economy.
"Moreover -
a significant number of State Workers are paid
through federal funding. Furloughing federally
funded positions actually reduces the amount of
federal money coming into the state. It makes
little sense for Governor Corzine to lobby for
expanding federal stimulus funding on the one
hand and and then to furlough federally funded
workers workers on the other. Imposing these kinds
of cuts only deepens the economic slump we are
all working to overcome."
NOTICE
CONCERNING SHBP AUDIT UPDATED 2/10/09
To: All CWA 1032 Members
As you know, the Division of Pensions
and Benefits is seeking to audit
dependent eligibility in the State Health Benefits
Plan. To do this, they
contracted - perhaps illegally and without the
approval of the State Health Benefits Commission
- with Aon Consulting. Aon sent out a letter saying
this is an audit, submit your documents by February
20, or you will lost your coverage.
That February 20 date is ON HOLD.
Do not send in any documents.
We are concerned about many issues
involving this audit, including
confidentiality, destruction of documents, dropping
of coverage, and more.
We are working closely with other
CWA Locals and other unions affected by this
audit. We have demanded a meeting to seek to
resolve these issues. If you have already sent
your documents in, we will seek to determine
what happens to those documents in our discussions.
We are very sensitive to people's concerns on
this issue and will do everything in our power
to secure the status of those documents as soon
as possible.
Again, if you have not yet sent
in your documents, the February 20th
deadline is on hold pending further discussion.
Put your documents together but do not send them
in.
We will keep you informed as this
matter progresses.
The NJ SHBP and the University of Pennsylvania
Reach Agreement that keeps U of P in SHBP
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
and the University of Pennsylvania Health
System (UPHS) have reached a long-term agreement,
allowing Horizon BCBSNJ to rescind its pending
termination of its hospital contract with
UPHS and for the hospital system to remain
in the Horizon Hospital Network.This agreement
means that costs will remain affordable and
Horizon BCBSNJ members will continue to have
in-network access to UPHS hospitals, including
Pennsylvania Hospital, Penn Presbyterian
Medical Center and the Hospital of the University
of Pennsylvania. In reaching this agreement
with UPHS, Horizon BCBSNJ continues to meet
its obligation to maintain a balance between
keeping health care affordable for our 3.6
million members and reimbursing our network
health care professionals and hospitals reasonably
and fairly. That’s Making Healthcare
Work!
Response to Governor
Corzine's Proposal
On Friday, January
2, 2009 Governor Corzine met with representatives
from the various unions representing state employees.
New Jersey Area Director Hetty Rosenstein attended
on behalf of CWA. During this meeting, Corzine
outlined the latest economic picture for the
state. The current shortfall estimate for this
fiscal year has grown to $2.1 billion. This
is from combined revisions of anticipated revenue
from income taxes, sales taxes, corporate taxes
and other sources (real estate related taxes,
casino revenue, etc). Corzine believes that
even with shifting some money around, and with
an anticipated $300 million forthcoming from
the federal stimulus package, he still needs
to cut about $800 million in order to rebalance
the FY 2009 budget.
As has been expected
for some time, part of his proposal to do so
includes a wage freeze for state employees.
Corzine has proposed an 18 month freeze in across-the-board
salary increases and increments and has said
that if we do not agree, he will have no choice
but to mandate unpaid furloughs and possibly
layoffs. He estimates that the salary freeze
will save $136 million over the next 2 years,
although it appears that freezing increments
will only save approximately 6 million in FY
2009. CWA, AFSCME and IFPTE 195 issued a joint
press release stating that we will not agree
to reopen our collective bargaining agreements
and we will fight any proposal for furloughs
and/or layoffs. The unions made clear that we
are more than wiling to talk with the Administration
about other areas for savings and for ways to
increase revenue. We firmly believe that freezing
wages and putting people out of work are exactly
the wrong strategy for dealing with this crisis.
Local 1032 will
be working closely with other CWA Locals and
public worker unions to develop a mobilization
plan that protects our jobs and calls for investment
in New Jersey through the expansion of union
jobs, raising wages, and promoting health care
and retirement security for all. These are the
ways to stimulate the economy!
Stay tuned for
further updates and visit our website often
for information as it becomes available.
FY
2009 STATE BUDGET UPDATE
For the latest information on the state budget
visit www.cwanj.org
You can also send a letter to you legislators
telling them to honor collective bargaining and
not support any bills that will change contractual
benefits.
View the full page add running
in The Star-Ledger and Trenton Times click
here 177k
Watch the
Budget
Video Ad
Click the
Play button to start video. Depending
on your Browser, you may need to click
it twice.
***
STATE CONTRACT NEWS ***
"State contracts are currently being printed
and will be distributed when complete.
In the meantime, the complete contract can be
found here.
Governor Corzine's State of the State address
outlined his core principles
for asset monetization and debt reduction. Details
can be found here.
CWA is studying this proposal
and more information will be available in the
coming weeks
View a short video
of our new Meeting Hall. This hall is 3500 sq.
ft. Has room for 200 stadium seating, and room
for 100 at round tables. It also has state of
the art video conferencing.
Stay informed by
visiting our website often.
Visit other useful sites.
CWA National Union site - www.cwanj.org
State Legislature site - www.njleg.state.nj.us
LABOR
DAY
CWA1032 rallies
for HMFA contract settlement
Click the Play
button to start video. Depending on your Browser,
you may need to click it twice.
All Workers Need Pension
Security
We’re Not the Problem
Stop the Attack on Retirement Security Click
here for more info
Local
1032 is launching a new film series
that will feature movies, documentaries,
and other media that focus on the
past, present, and future of the labor
movement. read more
HOME
Local
1032 is launching a new film series
that will feature movies, documentaries,
and other media that focus on the
past, present, and future of the labor
movement.