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CWA District 1 Update – February 2023

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Dear Members,

Happy New Year! We’re writing today to share some important info that directly impacts you and your family. 2023 is going to be a big deal for state workers. Our current contract expires on June 30th, and CWA has just begun bargaining for our next 4-year contract. In order to get the best contract possible, it’s going to take all of us fighting together!

Only members of the union get to have input into the contract proposals, and only members vote on the final contract – these are rights and privileges we gain by committing to standing together.

Being a union member is an investment in ourselves and our family. The commitment to each other is what gives our union power, because it shows the boss that we have each other’s backs and will fight for what we deserve: dignity and safety in the workplace, and a fair contract that provides economic security for all CWA members and our families. With bargaining about to start, now is the time to stand with your co-workers and join the union!

Here is a link to our CWA electronic membership card – please download and type in the highlighted boxes (including your signature), and then email it back to CWA Local 1031 at info@cwa1031.org .

Did you know that last year, CWA had three major accomplishments?

  1. After years of fighting to make sure our pensions are properly funded, the State not only made the full pension payment, an additional $500 million was included.
  2. When hit with a more than 20% increase in health benefit premiums, the union fought back and negotiated it down to 3%, which for most members amounted to just a few dollars per pay period. It was the first increase in 3 years!
  3. CWA worked with other public sector unions to get the Responsible Collective Negotiations Act (RCNA) passed and signed into law. This is the most important pro-union legislation passed and signed into law in three decades, expanding what we can negotiate for to include some vital aspects of our jobs like anti lay-off and anti-privatization job security language. Among the other things this bill does, it allows unions to charge non-members the cost of arbitration in discipline. Depending on the amount of days needed to present the case, the cost of arbitration can run from a few thousand dollars to in excess of $10,000. In order to be eligible to have the union pay for an arbitration case, you must be a full, dues paying member before to being called in to a Weingarten meeting, the time you become aware that you are being investigated for possible discipline. Otherwise, you would be responsible for the entire cost and you must pay a significant portion up front.

We need to build as much power as possible to bargain this next contract. Our union power is based on state employees like yourself standing side by side with your co-workers as CWA members.

Here is the link again that connects you to an electronic signature card.

We’re happy to answer any questions you may have so don’t hesitate to reach out to your Branch President for more information.

In solidarity,

Dennis G. Trainor, Vice President CWA District 1
Fran Ehret, NJ Director CWA District 1
John Rose, President Local 1031
Migdalia Santiago, President Local 1032
Gaye Palmer, President Local 1033
Adam Liebtag, President Local 1036
Ken McNamara, President Local 1037
Shawn Ludwig, President Local 1038
Michele Long-Vickers, President Local 1040

Show your solidarity! 2023 Contract Petition

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Show your solidarity and sign out 2023 Bargaining Petition! Click Here

Now that we have the results of the 2023 State worker bargaining survey, the bargaining committee has been hard at work preparing proposals to reflect your priorities. As we start negotiations, we wanted to share what members said should be some of our biggest priorities at the bargaining table.

Economic issues are front and center for us in this round of negotiations.

Salary increases – We are not in a 2% world. We know the state’s economy is strong right now, inflation has hit everyone hard and continues to do so, and the labor market has changed. Our bargaining demands reflect these realities. Our demands on salary also take our membership into consideration. We have members still moving through the step system and we want to protect that system, and hopefully expand it. We have members at lower wage scales and we want to try to bring those up. We also have members at top step who have been there for a while. Bottom line, we are looking for higher raises and we will try to modernize the structure of the step program for all members.

Healthcare – members are in solidarity around protecting what we have, doing what we can to avoid paying more, and trying to deal with the copay increases for specialists and urgent care visits that happened this year due to the unprecedented premium increases.

During the last round of negotiations, we did a lot of work on health benefits. We negotiated away from the chapter 78 contribution rates and implemented our own rates which are a percent of salary and are much lower than if we stayed on chapter 78. This was good bargaining and has saved members thousands of dollars in the past 5 years. In fact, the only increase we have had in our contribution rates since 2019 was the small 3% increase we negotiated for 2023. That’s a success and we need to protect it.

Telework – it works well for some of our members. Some are happy with the current program and some want it expanded even more, or made more flexible. Keep in mind however that CWA represents members across ALL state government in ALL lines of work. Telework is not possible for all lines of work, so as a UNION we won’t sacrifice one group for another in terms of telework but let’s keep in mind it doesn’t work the same for everyone. We intend to bargain tough and smart on this issue because we recognize our workplaces are modernizing very quickly and telework is becoming a recruitment and retention issue as much as wages.

Job Security – As a result of our collective political efforts in passing the Responsible Collective Negotiations Act (RCNA), we now have the opportunity to negotiate anti-layoff and anti-privatization contract language under that new state law. Many members are also concerned about the threats to our jobs and promotional opportunities due to the ever increasing use of temporary workers. Fighting for strong job protections will be an on-going priority in this and every contract we bargain in the future.

There are of course other priorities in the surveys and other long-term priorities for the Union. We are going to bargain tough to get the best contract possible.

We have high goals we’re fighting for, so we’re going to need you and all of members to be 100% engaged and ready to mobilize to help push us over the goal line. We’ll be providing updates throughout the process so keep an eye out. The first thing we’re asking members to do is go to the link below and sign a petition to show your support for the bargaining team’s efforts. Our solidarity is what will give us the power to win!

https://cwanj.org/1031petition

In solidarity,

John Rose
Mickey Santiago
Gaye Palmer
Adam Liebtag
Ken McNamara
Shawn Ludwig
Michele Long-Vickers
Dennis Trainor
Fran Ehret

 

Important Message Regarding Health Benefits for State Employees

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Dear CWA member,

Please closely review this important information regarding your health benefits.

CWA, in coalition with AFSCME, AFT, IBEW, IFPTE and the Council of NJ State College Locals, have reached an agreement with the State of NJ regarding the massive State Health Benefits Plan (SHBP) premium increases which will take effect for 2023. This agreement drastically reduces the impact of those premium increases on our members.

The State notified CWA in July that its actuary for the SHBP recommended raising premiums by 20.7% for the plans in which state employees are enrolled. CWA immediately asserted our rights under our Contract to negotiate over these increases. We were quickly joined by the other Unions representing state employees whose members were also affected.

Supported by thousands of phone calls, the rally at the State House, and other mobilization, CWA and our union coalition reached an agreement with the State to greatly reduce the impact of the proposed premium increases, effective January 2023:

  1. Copays for Specialists will increase to $30 as a pilot program. OB/GYN specialist co-pays will remain unchanged.
  2. Urgent Care visits will increase to $45 as a pilot program in 2023.
  3. Member contributions are limited to a 3% increase from current rates. (Contribution rates have not increased since 2019.)

For example, a member with family medical and prescription coverage earning $50,000 per year will contribute only $68 more per year, or $1.31 per week, than their current rate.

When the CWA bargaining team negotiated over health insurance in our current contract (2019-2023), we made two significant changes. Both of those negotiated changes have protected our members now as we faced increased health care costs from the COVID pandemic and other factors.

First, we created the CWA Unity PPO plan which reduced total premium costs for both employers and members. Premiums were reduced by around 11% from the prior plans and members shared in those savings. Members saved thousands of dollars over the life of our current contract. The new plan and new contribution rates also extended to the Judiciary and have been adopted in other units around the state. Members, the State, and local government employers who use this new plan, have saved millions in health insurance premiums and contributions since 2019.

Second, we negotiated re-opener language in our contract so that any premium increases in future years would require the State to come to the negotiations table rather than impose increases. Through negotiations, the Unions and State were able to reduce costs but protect quality benefits.

Both the plan changes from 2019 and the re-opener language prevented the State from imposing these costs on members without negotiations. Collective bargaining worked to protect our plans and defend against drastic premium increases.

Urgent Care utilization rose sharply in the past two years, which we believe was a result of COVID. The Union will continue to assist members with urgent care needs through lower-cost, higher quality alternatives like primary care physicians and the NJ Direct Primary Care medical home program.

Thanks to all the CWA members who participated in mobilization activities which made this agreement possible. Please make every effort to participate in upcoming membership meetings with your Locals.

In solidarity,

Dennis G. Trainor, Vice President, CWA District 1
Franceline Ehret, New Jersey Area Director, CWA District 1
John Rose, President, CWA Local 1031
Migdalia Santiago, President, CWA Local 1032
Gaye Palmer, President, CWA Local 1033
Adam Liebtag, President, CWA Local 1036
Ken McNamara, President, CWA Local 1037
Shawn Ludwig, President, CWA Local 1038
Michele Long-Vickers, Executive Vice President, CWA Local 1040