As you know, the Appellate Court determined that Civil Service was wrong in saying that PLB days had to be treated as vacation days, that is, that they could only be carrie over for one year.  We won this decision.

As you know, the State was trying to force our members to use all PLB days by June 30, 2012 and violate the MOA that permitted carryover and cash out of PLB days.  PLB days were agreed to between the unions and the State in exchange for agreements to defer contractual raises and to take furlough days.

CWA State Director Hetty Rosenstein issued the following statement today in response to Governor Christie's State of the State Address.

The CWA state worker bargaining committee will hold a call for all CWA state worker shop stewards to update stewards on the status of contract negotiations with the state.  The call will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 29th.

To join the call, dial: 888-886-6603 at 6:30 p.m. and then enter the passcode followed by the '#' sign, which is 17819#

On November 28, Senator Menendez visited the Alcatel-Lucent building in Murray Hill and met with employees there, many of whom are represented by the CWA.  We'd like to thank the Senator for the visit and especially thank him for his support of the CWA's efforts in Washington to extend and expand section 420 of the Tax Code.  This legislation is crucial for our retirees since it will allow companies to use assets in significantly over funded pension plans to fund retiree life insurance and to continue to use excess pension assets to finance retiree health care.  We really appreciate Senator Menendez's leadership in helping to make this happen.

New Jersey spoke decisively yesterday, electing many progressive Democrats despite Governor Christie's desperate attempts to create a blank check legislature for the rest of his term. Democrats maintained their numbers in the State Senate and picked up an additional seat in the Assembly to strengthen their majority there.

CWA NJ congratulates its endorsees on their victories and thanks the hundreds of CWA Members who volunteered their time to make more than 126K phone calls, knock on tens of thousands of doors, and pass out thousands of leaflets in support of these candidates. Thank you! You are the backbone of the union!

Dear CWA New Jersey Workers!

What a busy month! Bargaining is ongoing and November's elections are just a couple weeks away. Open enrollment has started for state workers, and you should check out our recommendations below before choosing your new health plan. Nationally, harmful free trade agreements were passed by Congress, Occupy Wall Street has taken off worldwide, and CWA Verizon workers have joined the protest in New York. See our pictures of them below, and learn how to help elect good Democrats here in New Jersey.

In this issue:

• In Case You Missed It: September Bargaining Report
  
• Open Enrollment Health Plan Recommendations
  
• Endorsements for November Elections
  
• Labor Walks
  
• Despite Poor Economy, Congress Passes Job-Killing Free Trade Agreements
  
• Occupy Wall Street, CWA, & Verizon: The 99% Demands Justice!
  
• 1088 Rallies Against Cuts