New Jersey State AFL-CIO: 50 Years of Making a Difference
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In this op-ed, Charles Wowkanech and Laurel Brennan, president and secretary-treasurer, respectively, of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO describe the state federation’s 50 years of making a difference.
Fifty years ago today, George Meany, president of the AFL-CIO, symbolically “tied the knot” linking the hands of AFL leader Vincent Murphy and CIO chief Joel Jacobson.
More than 3,000 delegates gathered in Newark to cheer the “shotgun wedding” that united the New Jersey labor movement and ended a 25-year rivalry during which the two federations raced against each other to organize hundreds of thousands of workers across the state.
New Jersey Union Members Arrested Protesting Bill to End Collective Bargaining
This is a cross-post from the New Jersey State AFL-CIO.
Thousands of working men and women protested the New Jersey Statehouse today against legislation that would effectively eliminate public employee collective bargaining rights over health care benefits. Chanting “Kill the bill” and “Worker rights are human rights,” 25 union members, including New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech and Secretary-Treasurer Laurel Brennan, were arrested for disorderly conduct.
“It is with a heavy heart that we even had to be here today to testify against a piece of legislation that would destroy collective bargaining rights for thousands of taxpaying working men and women,” Wowkanech said.
…we had to stand up for the right to collectively bargain, just as we did for project labor agreements, paid family leave, prevailing wage and card check in the public sector.
Caesars Casino Dealers Ratify First Contract with UAW
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Three years after joining the UAW, dealers at Caesars casino voted overwhelmingly in favor of their first contract, the second such pact approved by Atlantic City dealers in three months.
In August, casino dealers at the Tropicana Casino & Resort approved a historic first-ever contract for dealers in Atlantic City. The Caesars contract is similar to the Tropicana pact—both contain 18 percent raises.
N.Y. Times Profiles New Jersey State AFL-CIO Candidate School
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Last week, The New York Times discovered what we in the union movement have known for a long time (click here and here): The New Jersey State AFL-CIO’s Labor Candidate School—with more than 500 union members elected to office since 1997—is a unique and resounding success.
Times reporter Richard Perez-Pena writes that “it is hardly unusual for unions to be involved in political campaigns…they provide candidates with critical ground troops for time-intensive tasks like walking precincts and making phone calls.” But he adds that the New Jersey school is unique “in training its own members to run for office rather than work for other candidates.”
New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech tells Perez-Pena:
The concept was to take our members and apprentice them in the field of politics, just as we apprentice them in their own crafts. We started with zoning boards, school boards, councils, then mayor, freeholder, and then senators and assemblyman. Corporate America is very good at electing their people. If it’s good for them, why can’t it be good for us?”
35,000 Rally Against New Jersey Budget Cuts
More than 35,000 people—including workers from dozens of unions and activists from more than 100 community groups—last Saturday told New Jersey’s Republican Gov. Chris Christie that he cannot balance the state’s budget on the backs of the middle class.
The “Stand Up” rally, one of the largest-ever protests at the state capitol in Trenton, sent a clear message that New Jersey working people reject Christie’s budget cuts and believe the path to getting the state back on track is through job growth and doing more to help the state’s most vulnerable families.
Carrying signs with messages such as “Restore The Cuts” and “Christie’s Budget Cuts Hurt the Vulnerable, Helps the Millionaires,” marchers filled the square in front of the state House as far as you could see.
Atlantic City Casino Workers Authorize Strike
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Gaming workers at Bally’s and Caesars casinos in Atlantic City voted overwhelmingly over the weekend to authorize a strike if they are unable to reach a contract agreement with management.
The workers have been trying to gain a first contract for two years after voting to form a union with the UAW in 2007.
Says Ed Hendricks, a Caesars slot technician for 15 years:
Nobody wants a strike, but we’re going to stand up to enforce our rights. We have negotiated for almost two years, but instead of reaching an agreement the company keeps cutting back. Harrah’s [owner of both casinos] has cut our 401(k) match, increased our benefit costs and laid off our fellow workers.
