The New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech and Secretary-Treasurer Laurel Brennan led a delegation of 50 state labor leaders and rank-and-file members to Washington, DC, on Wednesday March 4, for a National Labor Lobby Day to oppose the renewal of “Fast Track” Trade Promotion Authority (TPA).

The Lobby Day was part of an ongoing push by the AFL-CIO to defeat any “Fast Track” legislation that comes up in Congress for a vote. In addition to visiting Washington and emailing our Congressional representatives, the AFL-CIO Executive Council agreed to suspend political contributions to lawmakers until after the Fast-Track vote in Congress.

Our affiliated unions who joined us in Washington helped make our lobbying efforts a resounding success. New Jersey was well-represented with a state labor delegation that included representatives from 10 affiliated unions, who spent the day on Capitol Hill engaging in trade conversations with members of New Jersey’s Congressional delegation.

The labor movement will be closely monitoring how members of Congress vote on a forthcoming Trade Promotion Authority bill also known as “Fast-Track”. In a letter from the national AFL-CIO Executive Council to members of Congress, which you can view HERE, national union leaders expressed strong opposition to this bill, which would shut the public out of major trade negotiations that impact American wages and jobs as well as undermine global working conditions, environmental standards, and labor rights.

Action Follows Gov. Christie’s Intent to Violate Chapter 78 Law Again

The 14 unions below collectively announced today that they have instructed their attorneys to prepare papers to go back into court to require the Governor to comply with his legal obligations under Chapter 78 to make the State's Annual Required Contribution to the pension system for FY 2016. 

New Jersey State AFL-CIO labor candidate victories now total 817

Congratulations to Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU 819) brother Ray Greaves on being selected to serve on the Bayonne School Board.

Brother Greaves was sworn in to an unexpired term Thursday night, and he plans to run for the remainder of the term in November.

The Kean University Board of Trustees plans to adopt a proposal to privatize over 100 good union jobs during its March 2, 2015 meeting being held in Kean Hall. We urge you to join with our IFPTE 195 brothers and sisters to oppose this destructive action which would have devastating consequences for workers, their families, and the university community.

The New Jersey labor movement is proud to lend crucial support to Wisconsin’s working families, who are engaged in an epic battle against the infamously anti-union “Right to Work” bill being supported by Governor Scott Walker and legislative leadership.

Last night, New Jersey union members from ATU, BAC, CWA, IFPTE, IUPAT, and OPEIU took to the phones, contacting Wisconsin residents and connecting them directly to their state senators in order to oppose “Right to Work”.

The trade policies of the United States are undermining the interests of working men and women. Trade negotiations known as “Fast Track” or Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) are bad for democracy and bad for American workers and their families. Fast-tracked trade deals weaken our communities, erode our cities and towns, and hurt our state. That’s why the AFL-CIO strongly opposes President Obama’s call to renew his ability to negotiate international trade deals in secret, leaving Congress with a single up-or-down vote on the deal.

In his budget address, Gov. Christie took yet another swipe at his favorite target – public-sector workers – while remaining silent on some of the most serious problems facing our state. Roads and bridges are crumbling and the state is out of money to fix them. Our state ranks 49^th out of 50 in job growth and a quarter of casino workers have been laid off, yet the state lacks a comprehensive plan to create jobs. Atlantic City has been devastated by casino closings, soaring property taxes and home foreclosures, but there is no plan to save this vital economic engine. Many of our largest cities and poorest communities continue to struggle without any revitalization plan. College costs are unaffordable for many, yet the governor has not addressed this inequity. It costs taxpayers more when the state borrows money, but Gov. Christie has taken no concrete steps to stop the record number of credit downgrades that have occurred on his watch.