Governor Christie has taken steps to cut $900 million due to be paid into the pension system for the current fiscal year which ends June 30^th. He also has stated he intends to cut $1.5 billion from the payment due in the next fiscal year. This is an outrageous attack on the retirement security of current and retired members. It is a flip-flop from the Governor’s previous commitments to the Legislature when he convinced them to pass the law which froze retiree cost of living allowances and required all of us to contribute more toward our pension. It is also a violation of the law.

CWA, and possibly other unions, will be filing a lawsuit and will directly challenge the legality of the Governor’s actions. You can expect to see news reports of this action shortly and we will also update members directly.

Right now, we are asking you to take action. We have a website that allows both active and retired members of the pension plans to demand that their respective pension board take action.  It is critically important that as many members and retirees sign on as possible. Please do so right now at http://www.cwanj.org/PERSpetition. 

We have been meeting with Legislative leadership and are demanding that they make sure the required pension payment is contained in the budget which must be adopted by July 1. We are also demanding, along with many other progressive partners, that the Legislature propose raising the revenue necessary to balance the budget. Since it is now widely understood what we have been saying for many years – that NJ does not have a spending problem, it has a revenue problem – now is the time to pass the millionaires tax and other measures to balance the budget.

There will be a statewide Shop Steward meeting in Trenton on June 12^th where we will roll out a more detailed mobilization plan. Shop Stewards and Staff Representatives will be meeting with members immediately after that to discuss those plans with you.