A mere 3 years before that humiliating show of powerlessness, many of those same politicians were running TO Local 1040.  What happened?

As we all know in New Jersey, money talks.  Our Local leadership doesn’t seem to understand that concept anymore.  A review of the public records of New Jersey’s Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) shows a disappointing lack of political contributions compared to other Locals who represent state workers like 1032, 1034 and 1037.  It really is quite simple...we have to BE at the table before we can TALK at the table... and the meal isn't free!

We have lost our political clout in New Jersey politics.  We backed losing candidates like Senator Asselta and Senator Karcher because our leadership did not bother to ask the members in those districts what they thought before we threw our support into the wind.  We threatened Senator Sweeney who then became the Chairman of the powerful Senate Budget Committee and is now the Senate President.  Is it any wonder why he might dislike State Workers so much??

And what happened to all of the Local’s Political Staff?  Fran Fiore? Tom Bruno?? Joe Link???  

The FY2008, FY2009 and FY2010 Budgets rolled through the Assembly and the Senate without a single person from our Local’s leadership commenting at any one of the SIX public hearings that were held throughout the State each of those years.

A Bill was introduced (S1090, but now is P.L. 2006 c.61) and 4 public hearings were held throughout the State by the Department of Human Services (DHS) dealing with institutional closures which would put nearly 1,500 Local members out of their job.  Again, not one person from our leadership was there to advocate for our members.
The Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) began a Council they call the Olmstead Implementation and Planning Advisory Council.  Again, Local 1040 was woefully absent despite being a major stakeholder in the process!  Instead, DDD decided, “Stakeholder involvement will continue through [the Council] that will start meeting in June 2007. The council members will include people with developmental disabilities, family members, advocates, provider agency representatives and state agency representatives."

Another bill passed both houses and was signed into law by the governor that significantly increases the cost of pension loans to our members who are in the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) by nearly double.  Yet not a word from our local leaders to us or to the legislature. 

And now, several Bills have been signed into law and are being described as "Pension Reform," but make no mistake about it, these bills will HURT the pension fund.  They are actually Pension DEFORM bills and strip non-forfeitable rights from new hires and change the formula for ALL future pension members so that their monthly benefit will be at LEAST 12% LESS than it is currently calculated to be.  Again, not one word from our union leadership!

Is that the kind of mindless leadership we pay union dues for? 

By the way, one of the signed bills eliminated SLI for ALL STATE EMPLOYEES AS OF MAY 21, 2010.  Did our Local put THAT into the viewpoint???  Of course not, there wouldn't be enough room for THAT story to run unless we took a picture of Carolyn Wade out... and we can't have that!