Jersey City Employment and Training Program (JCETP)
CWA represents 30 employment services workers at the Jersey City Employment and Training Program, a private, non-profit company in Jersey City, NJ. Workers at JCETP organized with Local 1037 in 2003 and have recently completed negotiations on their second contract.
Contract Settlement at Jersey City Employment and Training
Members at Jersey City Employment and Training, Inc. overwhelmingly ratified a new 2-year Contract yesterday by a vote of 15 – 1. The new Contract provides for retroactive wage increases that average 7.25% over 2 years, with health insurance and pension fully-paid by the employer.
This year’s bargaining came under very difficult circumstances. JCETP, Inc. had cuts in funding totaling $1.5 million over the last two years while the costs of health insurance premiums rose 50%. There was extreme pressure for members to begin paying for health insurance.
Meanwhile, management was refusing to negotiate in good faith. Instead, their union-busting attorney came to the bargaining table with a “take-it-or-leave-it” proposal which was unacceptable to the workers, whose average salary is just $34,000. Management wanted workers to pay for unknown future healthcare premiums which would have likely wiped away any raises being offered.
“We have some very low-paid employees here,” said Kendra Cromartie, Shop Steward at JCETP and member of the CWA bargaining team. “Management’s offer would have caused a lot of hardship for people.” Under management’s proposal, many workers would have become eligible for NJ Family Care, a taxpayer-supported health insurance program for low-income workers, and would have had to opt-out of the employer’s health program altogether.
The workers response to management’s position was to take their fight to the streets. Last week members at JCETP, as well as other Local 1037 members and Shop Stewards who share the same worksite at 438 Summit Ave., began picketing the state office building as well as management’s offices on Newark Ave. Their activities drew the attention of the local press as well as the Mayor, and soon management’s position at the bargaining table changed. Another lesson that mobilization drives bargaining!
The Local 1037 members at JCETP provide employment-related services at the Jersey City One Stop Career Center and work alongside members who are employed by the Department of Labor. The previous contract expired on July 1.