On Thursday, September 24, hundreds of CWA members held a mass lunchtime rally simultaneously outside of three Passaic Board of Social Services offices to demand better wages and respect. Clad in red CWA shirts, the picketing workers chanted and sent a clear message to the PCBSS management – FAIR CONTRACT NOW!

Union members have been working without a new contract for almost two years, and successfully fought off management’s attempts to lay off long-tenured clerical employees in January.

“We’re here on our lunch break because we feel like we have been repeatedly dismissed and undervalued. Management’s actions to try to fire union members—which we stopped—and to lower worker pay and quality of life protections are not going to fly,” said Wanda Sawyer, PCBSS Shop Steward and 1037 Executive Board Vice President. “Were here to know what fair is, and we demand a fair contract.”

Outside the Paterson PCBSS office in Paterson—the board’s largest office—well over 120 workers (over 90% of members) joined the picket during their lunch break, and in Passaic—the second-largest office—over 40 joined (a super majority of the workers there.) All PCBSS workers at the Haskell office participated.

Workers have held petition drives at Paterson and Passaic offices, and showed up to the County Board of Commissioners meeting this month. If management didn’t hear workers before, they sure did today.

“What do we want? Contract! When do we want it? NOW!”

“CWA! We’re Not Going Away!”

Workers are determined to get a contract and will continue escalating until they get one. When we fight, we win.