On Wednesday, June 24, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 397, the Rehabilitation for Multiemployer Pensions Act, more commonly referred to as The Butch Lewis Act. The legislation addresses the nation’s worsening multiemployer pension crisis.

In favor of strengthening prevailing wage in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy signed S2557 into law on Tuesday, July 9. Sponsored by Senator Troy Singleton, Assemblyman Wayne P. DeAngelo, Assemblywoman Pamela R. Lampitt and Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter, the legislation will allow the issuing of stop-work orders for failure to meet prevailing wage standards.

Over a Million Workers to Benefit from Statewide Minimum Wage Increase

Hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans are getting a raise today, the first in our state’s multi-year move toward a $15-an-hour minimum wage.

As we near the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01), a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor and New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor Candidate, is leading the charge on legislation that would guarantee public-service workers in every state have the right to stand together and negotiate for fair wages and working conditions.

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO is pleased to announce that U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) has offered a bipartisan amendment to the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill, allocating $1,000,000 in funding to establish a modern postal banking system.

New Jersey Passes First Statewide Law Mandating Panic Devices for Hotel Workers

Hundreds of hotel workers, union leaders and elected officials gathered at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City today to witness the signing of a bill requiring hotels to equip certain employees with “panic buttons” for their protection against inappropriate conduct by guests.

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO urges members of the NJ State Assembly to support three bills that will be voted on this Monday, March 25, 2019.

Organized Labor Celebrates Gov. Murphy's Signing of Paid Family Leave Reform Law

Today, Governor Murphy signed into law Paid Family Leave Reform legislation (S-2528: Sweeney/Diegnan/Ruiz & A-3975: Quijano/Giblin/Downey). The bill extends the paid leave period from six weeks to 12 weeks, increases the benefit amount from two-thirds of a claimant’s average weekly wage to 70 percent of that wage with a higher maximum threshold, and expands job protection to businesses with 30 employees or more. 

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO is pleased to announce that three members of the New Jersey congressional delegation have introduced bills to prevent government shutdowns and protect federal employees and contractors. 

Legislation Raising the Minimum Wage Approved by Two Committees 

Bills Concerning Wage Theft, Paid Family Leave Reform and Assistance to Furloughed Workers Also Advance

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO thanks the first prime Sponsor of S-15, Senate President Sweeney (D-3), for his leadership on behalf of the working poor of New Jersey. Today, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to approve legislation that would increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2024. The bill was released mostly along party lines, with Democrats Sarlo (D-36), Cunningham (D-31), Ruiz (D-29), Greenstein (D-14), Beach (D-6), Cruz-Perez (D-5) and Cryan (D-20) voting Yes. Republicans O’Scanlon (R-13), Thompson (R-12) and Oroho (R-24) voted No. Sen. Addiego (R-8) abstained. Sen. Andrzejczak (D-1) was the only Democrat to vote against raising the minimum wage. The bill also cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee along a party line 7-4 vote.