By Joshua Henne
CWA NJ
With “Shark Week” in full blast, we just wanted to share this timely video on Governor Chris Christie’s “Shirk Week.”
Christie talks a big game. But, as this video shows, the governor already broke New Jersey’s economy. Now, he’s not only breaking his word by failing to make promised pension payments…he’s breaking the law in the process.
It’s simple: New Jersey’s pension doesn't need a commission or a study stocked with a handful of super-wealthy people unlikely to have any clue as to what it means to live on a fixed-income. The pension needs to be fully funded, as promised and required by law.
So, in honor of Shark Week…I mean “Shirk Week”…we hope you’ll enjoy this short video highlighting Christie’s continued failures.
Christie didn't only break his word when it came to funding the pension. He also broke the very law he signed and touted as a “major accomplishment.” Gone is the fanfare. Gone is the chest-thumping. And gone are the taxpayer-funded banners proclaiming the “Jersey Comeback.”
Instead, we’re left with Christie’s limp lack of leadership…as he continues to shirk responsibility at every turn.
Showing posts with label Communication Workers of America (CWA). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Communication Workers of America (CWA). Show all posts
Monday, August 11, 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
CWA Holding Christie To Account for Breaking Word & Law on Pensions
On June 12th, 600 Communications Workers of America shop stewards descended on Trenton in protest of Governor Chris Christie breaking both his word and the law by failing to make promised pension payments. It was a big deal if you missed.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
CWA Taking Christie To Court For Breaking Law & Failing To Make Promised Pension Payments
For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, May 21st, 2014
(TRENTON, NJ) – Following yesterday’s incredulous announcement by Governor Chris Christie’s that he is refusing to make promised pension payments, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) is taking Governor Christie to court. CWA’s legal action will require Christie to pay into the pension system, as the very law he signed intended.
“Governor Christie is not only breaking his word, but he’s also breaking the law in failing to make these pension payments,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director, “Put aside how Christie’s actions are immoral. If the pension payments are not made, the plan will go bankrupt. Retirees and active workers will spend their retirement in poverty through no fault of their own. For these reasons, and more, we are taking the governor to court. And we will be mobilizing our members and allies in protest of Christie’s outrageous, illegal actions.”
The law is clear. And this latest Christie scheme is a direct contravention of the legislation he signed and that he said was going to save the pension.
Governor Christie’s decision to reduce the $1.6 billion payment to the pension systems due this fiscal year by almost $900 million, along with his stated intention to reduce the payment due next year by over $1.5 billion is a blatant violation of the State’s statutory obligation to make its annual required contributions to the pension systems as determined by the systems’ actuaries. The annual required contribution includes payments for the unfunded accrued liability that is the result of decades of underfunding the pension systems. Christie refers to this underfunding as the “sins of the past.” But the law requires that the State finally make up for these “sins” - because hundreds of thousands of retirees and current employees are entitled to the modest pensions they earned through decades of dedicated public service. These are pensions that they contributed to throughout their employment. And it is rightfully owed to them.
The pension statutes expressly empower any member of the pension system or a board of trustees to file a complaint with the Superior Court’s Law Division to enforce the contractual right to a securely funded pension system. The statute also compels the State to make its annual required contribution, as determined by the pension systems’ actuaries.
As such, CWA has directed its lawyers to begin preparing a complaint to file in court to require Governor Christie to pay into the pension systems the annual required contribution that the Legislature appropriated in the fiscal year 2014 Appropriations Act.
Wednesday, May 21st, 2014
(TRENTON, NJ) – Following yesterday’s incredulous announcement by Governor Chris Christie’s that he is refusing to make promised pension payments, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) is taking Governor Christie to court. CWA’s legal action will require Christie to pay into the pension system, as the very law he signed intended.
“Governor Christie is not only breaking his word, but he’s also breaking the law in failing to make these pension payments,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director, “Put aside how Christie’s actions are immoral. If the pension payments are not made, the plan will go bankrupt. Retirees and active workers will spend their retirement in poverty through no fault of their own. For these reasons, and more, we are taking the governor to court. And we will be mobilizing our members and allies in protest of Christie’s outrageous, illegal actions.”
The law is clear. And this latest Christie scheme is a direct contravention of the legislation he signed and that he said was going to save the pension.
Governor Christie’s decision to reduce the $1.6 billion payment to the pension systems due this fiscal year by almost $900 million, along with his stated intention to reduce the payment due next year by over $1.5 billion is a blatant violation of the State’s statutory obligation to make its annual required contributions to the pension systems as determined by the systems’ actuaries. The annual required contribution includes payments for the unfunded accrued liability that is the result of decades of underfunding the pension systems. Christie refers to this underfunding as the “sins of the past.” But the law requires that the State finally make up for these “sins” - because hundreds of thousands of retirees and current employees are entitled to the modest pensions they earned through decades of dedicated public service. These are pensions that they contributed to throughout their employment. And it is rightfully owed to them.
The pension statutes expressly empower any member of the pension system or a board of trustees to file a complaint with the Superior Court’s Law Division to enforce the contractual right to a securely funded pension system. The statute also compels the State to make its annual required contribution, as determined by the pension systems’ actuaries.
As such, CWA has directed its lawyers to begin preparing a complaint to file in court to require Governor Christie to pay into the pension systems the annual required contribution that the Legislature appropriated in the fiscal year 2014 Appropriations Act.
CWA Statement On Christie Breaking Pension Payment Promise
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, May 20th, 2014
(TRENTON, NJ) – This afternoon, Governor Chris Christie broke his latest promise. In dealing with a budget shortfall north of $800 million - of his own making - Christie declared that he is refusing to make pledged pension payments.
Below please find a statement from Communications Workers of America’s NJ State Director Hetty Rosenstein in response:
“Governor Christie said he fixed the state pension. He said our economy was the New Jersey Comeback, and he’d stop relying on one-shot gimmicks. He said record-breaking tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy would create jobs. After five years of Christie at the helm, it turns out every single thing he's promised has failed miserably - with a record sixth credit-downgrade by Wall Street to show for all his failures. It’s time Christie realizes what everyone else knows: cutting taxes for the super-wealthy, while stealing money from pensions hasn’t worked yet. And it wont work this time. At every turn, Governor Christie has chosen the path of economic instability, due to his wrong priorities and callous actions towards New Jersey’s working families. Since Christie is clearly unwilling to be a responsible actor, we call on the state legislature to step up and be the adults in the room.”
Tuesday, May 20th, 2014
(TRENTON, NJ) – This afternoon, Governor Chris Christie broke his latest promise. In dealing with a budget shortfall north of $800 million - of his own making - Christie declared that he is refusing to make pledged pension payments.
Below please find a statement from Communications Workers of America’s NJ State Director Hetty Rosenstein in response:
“Governor Christie said he fixed the state pension. He said our economy was the New Jersey Comeback, and he’d stop relying on one-shot gimmicks. He said record-breaking tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy would create jobs. After five years of Christie at the helm, it turns out every single thing he's promised has failed miserably - with a record sixth credit-downgrade by Wall Street to show for all his failures. It’s time Christie realizes what everyone else knows: cutting taxes for the super-wealthy, while stealing money from pensions hasn’t worked yet. And it wont work this time. At every turn, Governor Christie has chosen the path of economic instability, due to his wrong priorities and callous actions towards New Jersey’s working families. Since Christie is clearly unwilling to be a responsible actor, we call on the state legislature to step up and be the adults in the room.”
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Christie's Civil Service Commission Ignores Constitution & State Law Regarding Promotions Process
For Immediate Release:
May 7, 2014
Putting Patronage, Corruption, Nepotism & Political Abuse Ahead of Protecting Taxpayers & Good Government… Let Alone Following The Law
(TRENTON, NEW JERSEY) – This morning, the New Jersey Civil Service Commission (CSC) voted to enact sweeping changes to the promotional process for non-uniformed state workers. In doing so, the Christie administration is seeking to gut modest taxpayer protections from political patronage. These measures have not only been on the books for over a century, but are so vital to fairness in public service that they’re written into the state's Constitution. The changes also allow the Christie Administration to gut veterans’ preference in promotions for most positions in State Government.
Today’s regressive action comes in spite of a binding resolution passed by the State Legislature in January – which prohibited the Christie Administration from enacting the rules. The CSC is not only ignoring the actions of the legislature, but also ignoring what is enshrined in the State Constitution, as well as what New Jersey Supreme Court says is the law of the land.
“It is inconceivable that the Christie Administration is granting itself permission to promote anyone it wants, while getting rid of oversight and objective standards for fairness,” said Seth Hahn, CWA Political and Legislative Director. “Their scheme blocks lanes of promotions for the deserving, while subjecting advancement to the whims of political pressure. This radical change is especially galling given all we know about what’s happened on Governor Christie’s watch in both various agencies around the state and his own office in the Statehouse. Today’s action has the potential to open the entirety of State Government to the abuse we’ve recently seen at the Port Authority.”
The CSC’s arrogance and inability to follow the law would expose every single New Jerseyan to higher taxes due to corruption, cronyism, nepotism and patronage….if they were able to get their way This would amount to a wholesale attack on working families, women, LGBT workers, disabled people and people of color. Thankfully, the Christie Administration will not be able to get away with this, as the state constitution says you cannot write regulations contrary to the intent of the statute. And the New Jersey legislature has already agreed and passed two concurrent resolutions.
As passed, today’s proposal would allow the CSC to lump workers into “broad bands” of job titles - limiting valuable public oversight of which employees are performing specific tasks. It would then replace promotions for workers based on objective qualifications and done based on a transparent and objective testing process with “advancement” through the employment “bands.” The “advancement” would be done solely at the discretion of management. It would not be subject to minimum qualifications requirements or public oversight. And it could allow politically-friendly workers to get ahead, at the expense of those who are deserving.
Furthermore, since the testing process is the only place that veterans’ preference exists in New Jersey Civil Service, it replaces a clear commitment to our state’s veterans with a “trust me” system. Management would merely be directed to weigh veterans status in their own minds when making decisions about advancement.
Today’s action comes despite a binding legislative resolution that was passed in January that prohibits the Governor from adopting the proposal. The legislature used a little-known provision of the State Constitution, enacted by voters in 1992, that allows the legislature to prohibit or invalidate regulations or rules proposed or enacted by the Executive. The procedure required two votes of the legislature, and an open public hearing.
Not only is today’s adoption of the rule likely illegal, it most likely runs afoul of the State Constitution. Article VII, Section 1, paragraph 2 requires that state promotions shall be made and veterans’ preference shall be protected by an open and competitive testing process, “as far as practable.”
This morning’s CSC vote comes despite widespread condemnation from Civil Rights organizations, veterans, people with disabilities, women’s organizations and public watchdogs. It also comes after more than a year of the Christie Administration refusing public input. Last year, they held a single public hearing in Trenton at 3 pm on a workday in the middle of the week – in a room that could only seat thirty people. Even worse, not a single Civil Service Commissioner attended this meeting to discuss 96 pages of new rules marking the most radical changes since the inception of civil service. Since then, Christie’s Commission has steadfastly refused requests from thousands of people for additional hearings. They’ve stonewalled, even though previous Administrations – both Republicans and Democrats – have granted more hearings for changes far less sweeping. The state legislature held two oversight hearings and requested someone from Civil Service attend. Both times the invitations were denied.
It’s no surprise the Christie Administration has failed to be transparent on this issue. Because Christie’s latest scheme will create more patronage and corruption at all levels of government. It undermines promotions for the deserving and subjects promotions to the whims of political pressure. Simply put, Christie’s proposal hands power over to politicians and backroom players, at the expense of both good government and New Jersey’s taxpayers. However, their attempts to do so will be moribund as it is simply against the law to make these radical changes.
************************
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries. It represents thousands of public workers both in Civil Service jurisdictions and those that have not adopted Civil Service.
May 7, 2014
Putting Patronage, Corruption, Nepotism & Political Abuse Ahead of Protecting Taxpayers & Good Government… Let Alone Following The Law
(TRENTON, NEW JERSEY) – This morning, the New Jersey Civil Service Commission (CSC) voted to enact sweeping changes to the promotional process for non-uniformed state workers. In doing so, the Christie administration is seeking to gut modest taxpayer protections from political patronage. These measures have not only been on the books for over a century, but are so vital to fairness in public service that they’re written into the state's Constitution. The changes also allow the Christie Administration to gut veterans’ preference in promotions for most positions in State Government.
Today’s regressive action comes in spite of a binding resolution passed by the State Legislature in January – which prohibited the Christie Administration from enacting the rules. The CSC is not only ignoring the actions of the legislature, but also ignoring what is enshrined in the State Constitution, as well as what New Jersey Supreme Court says is the law of the land.
“It is inconceivable that the Christie Administration is granting itself permission to promote anyone it wants, while getting rid of oversight and objective standards for fairness,” said Seth Hahn, CWA Political and Legislative Director. “Their scheme blocks lanes of promotions for the deserving, while subjecting advancement to the whims of political pressure. This radical change is especially galling given all we know about what’s happened on Governor Christie’s watch in both various agencies around the state and his own office in the Statehouse. Today’s action has the potential to open the entirety of State Government to the abuse we’ve recently seen at the Port Authority.”
The CSC’s arrogance and inability to follow the law would expose every single New Jerseyan to higher taxes due to corruption, cronyism, nepotism and patronage….if they were able to get their way This would amount to a wholesale attack on working families, women, LGBT workers, disabled people and people of color. Thankfully, the Christie Administration will not be able to get away with this, as the state constitution says you cannot write regulations contrary to the intent of the statute. And the New Jersey legislature has already agreed and passed two concurrent resolutions.
As passed, today’s proposal would allow the CSC to lump workers into “broad bands” of job titles - limiting valuable public oversight of which employees are performing specific tasks. It would then replace promotions for workers based on objective qualifications and done based on a transparent and objective testing process with “advancement” through the employment “bands.” The “advancement” would be done solely at the discretion of management. It would not be subject to minimum qualifications requirements or public oversight. And it could allow politically-friendly workers to get ahead, at the expense of those who are deserving.
Furthermore, since the testing process is the only place that veterans’ preference exists in New Jersey Civil Service, it replaces a clear commitment to our state’s veterans with a “trust me” system. Management would merely be directed to weigh veterans status in their own minds when making decisions about advancement.
Today’s action comes despite a binding legislative resolution that was passed in January that prohibits the Governor from adopting the proposal. The legislature used a little-known provision of the State Constitution, enacted by voters in 1992, that allows the legislature to prohibit or invalidate regulations or rules proposed or enacted by the Executive. The procedure required two votes of the legislature, and an open public hearing.
Not only is today’s adoption of the rule likely illegal, it most likely runs afoul of the State Constitution. Article VII, Section 1, paragraph 2 requires that state promotions shall be made and veterans’ preference shall be protected by an open and competitive testing process, “as far as practable.”
This morning’s CSC vote comes despite widespread condemnation from Civil Rights organizations, veterans, people with disabilities, women’s organizations and public watchdogs. It also comes after more than a year of the Christie Administration refusing public input. Last year, they held a single public hearing in Trenton at 3 pm on a workday in the middle of the week – in a room that could only seat thirty people. Even worse, not a single Civil Service Commissioner attended this meeting to discuss 96 pages of new rules marking the most radical changes since the inception of civil service. Since then, Christie’s Commission has steadfastly refused requests from thousands of people for additional hearings. They’ve stonewalled, even though previous Administrations – both Republicans and Democrats – have granted more hearings for changes far less sweeping. The state legislature held two oversight hearings and requested someone from Civil Service attend. Both times the invitations were denied.
It’s no surprise the Christie Administration has failed to be transparent on this issue. Because Christie’s latest scheme will create more patronage and corruption at all levels of government. It undermines promotions for the deserving and subjects promotions to the whims of political pressure. Simply put, Christie’s proposal hands power over to politicians and backroom players, at the expense of both good government and New Jersey’s taxpayers. However, their attempts to do so will be moribund as it is simply against the law to make these radical changes.
************************
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries. It represents thousands of public workers both in Civil Service jurisdictions and those that have not adopted Civil Service.
Friday, August 23, 2013
CWA Endorses Cory Booker for U.S. Senate
Booker is Best Candidate for NJ’s Middle-Class & Working Families
(Trenton, New Jersey) - Today, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) endorsed Mayor
Cory Booker for United States Senate.
“Cory Booker supports President Obama's commitment that every family should have access to quality, affordable healthcare. He believes in a pathway to citizenship, and that government has a responsibility to stand for the common good. There is no doubt that Cory Booker is the best candidate on the October ballot,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director. “Frank Lautenberg was a progressive hero who always stood up for middle-class and working families. We look forward to working with Cory Booker to carry on that legacy on behalf of New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.”"It is an honor to have the support of the Communications Workers of America for my candidacy for the United States Senate,” said Mayor Booker. “The men and women of the CWA have fought for equality in the workplace, promoted access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans and sought to strengthen investments in job training, so that we continue to expand and empower our workforce here in the United States. These are the same values and priorities that I have fought for in Newark and will continue to fight for if elected to the Senate in October."
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey - including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries.
Election Day is Wednesday, October 16, 2013.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
CWA To Appeal Christie Scheme To Illegally Award Lottery Functions To Politically-Connected, Foreign-Owned Firm
For Immediate Release:
Ignores Clear Legal Guidance from DOJ & NJ Constitution - Invites Lawsuit by Pushing Aside Objections
(TRENTON, NJ) “ Late yesterday, the Christie Administration brushed aside a challenge by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) that would have stopped the State from awarding control of sales and marketing of the New Jersey State Lottery to a politically-connected, foreign-owned, private firm. For months, Christie has consistently stonewalled the public regarding lottery monetization - which could cause at least 7,000 New Jersey jobs to be lost and ship a billion dollars of lottery revenue out of state and abroad. As such, the CWA and small businesses are left with no other alternative other than to oppose this illegal privatization scheme in court.
"Despite all his bluster about putting New Jersey first, Governor Christie is handing over the keys of a valuable taxpayer-owned asset to a foreign company with a clear history of fraud and abuse," said Seth Hahn, Legislative and Political Director for CWA. "Christie can claim it's a mere coincidence that the sole bidder hired his campaign manager and his campaign's lawyer as lobbyists last year - but New Jerseyans know better. Rather than working to make our award-winning lottery even stronger, Christie instead went out of his way to ignore clear legal guidance that every other state pursuing lottery privatization has followed. Christie stacked the deck against small business owners and taxpayers with this illegal scheme, ensuring that the matter will now be settled in the courts."
Last night, the Christie Administration announced via email that it was pushing aside the CWA protest of the intent to award the contract. The Department of Treasury can now move forward with awarding the contract - which could take a couple of days to finalize. This means it will be a few days before the public will even have access to the details about what is in the contract. This is simply the Christie Administration's latest move to keep things secretive. Throughout the process, the only information made available on the privatization scheme has been the result of heavily-redacted records obtained through Open Public Records Requests.
For the nearly eight months, the Christie Administration has steadfastly refused to answer basic questions about the monetization of the state's fourth-most valuable asset. The administration has ducked questions at hearings, press conferences and at every other turn. They announced the contract on Friday, April 12th at 4 pm in a continued bid to minimize public knowledge about the deal. Then, recently, a small hearing was held on the CWA's protest of the award - mostly out of the public's eye, again on a Friday afternoon and only allowing two people from CWA to attend.
The contract between the State and Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group violates the original intent and meaning of the New Jersey Constitution, as well as state law - which specifically called for establishing a lottery to be operated by the state. In other words, the constitution requires the lottery be operated publicly so private enterprises cannot damage the public's trust through even the faintest whispers of corruption. Yet, this deal allows a private company to have the lion's share of operational control over what was always intended to be a state-run lottery.
Last month, six members of New Jersey's Congressional delegation sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking the Department of Justice to review the contract. These House members are worried the contract runs counter to a 2008 DOJ opinion which advised that such payments have a corrupting nature and run contrary to the public interest, and therefore likely run afoul of longstanding Federal law. Every state that has moved to privatize portions of its state lottery up to this point has followed the recommendations in the memo. Christie will be the first governor to ignore the guidance of the DOJ.
The Northstar partnership consists of three groups. One is Italian-owned, one's Canadian, and the other hails from Georgia. This partnership includes GTECH, which has a checkered history of fraud, bribery and corruption stretching from Texas to Rhode Island to New Jersey. In fact, Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno prosecuted GTECH's national sales director for a kickback scheme in New Jersey in the 1990s when she was in the U.S. Attorney's Office. In her prosecution, Guadagno argued the firm's corruption was so rampant that the state needed to throw the book at the GTECH official. Guadagno felt so strongly that she released sealed grand jury testimony to the media - a highly unusual step for which she was reprimanded by the New Jersey District Court.
Last year, Christie conducted a study about how to make New Jersey's lottery even better. It showed our award-winning system was one of America's best-run public lotteries - ranking 5th in per capita sales. Growth in online, instant and total sales all far exceeded the national average. In 2010, it had the highest net income margin, making New Jersey our nation's most efficient lottery. Looking at all this information, Christie made the shocking decision to turn sales and marketing functions over to a foreign private corporation. Even worse, despite a 42% growth in sales in the last decade, Northstar will get a cut of profits, up to 5% - if they increase sales just 9% over the next 15 years.
Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group is nearly identical to the firm running the show in Illinois. Following that takeover's first year, they admitted being over $100 million short of revenue projections. The firm then entered into a legal process with the State of Illinois claiming taxpayers owed them $230 million. In just the first half-decade of the contract, they now estimate being $250 million short of revenue estimates.
Aside from being illegal, this scheme is simply bad policy. With nearly one in ten New Jerseyans already out-of-work, lottery privatization is a bad deal - which would make foreign corporations rich while making things worse for taxpayers and small businesses. The Asian American Retailers Association estimates Christie's privatization deal could result in 7,000 jobs lost and that's their conservative estimate. Also, the Christie administration says Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group could earn $1 billion over the life of the contract - meaning a large chunk of lottery profits will be shipped out-of-state and overseas, instead of staying here at home. Moreover, as part of the deal, the state will receive a one-shot, upfront $120 million payment from Northstar. This gimmick has already been taken into account along with other rosy revenue projections for the latest Christie budget proposal.
With all these damning facts coming to light, it's no surprise the Christie Administration has consistently ducked questions and released precious little information on lottery privatization from throughout this process. CWA knows it is clear from what scant details do exist that the contract is illegal, and, as such, will be going to court to appeal.
Ignores Clear Legal Guidance from DOJ & NJ Constitution - Invites Lawsuit by Pushing Aside Objections
(TRENTON, NJ) “ Late yesterday, the Christie Administration brushed aside a challenge by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) that would have stopped the State from awarding control of sales and marketing of the New Jersey State Lottery to a politically-connected, foreign-owned, private firm. For months, Christie has consistently stonewalled the public regarding lottery monetization - which could cause at least 7,000 New Jersey jobs to be lost and ship a billion dollars of lottery revenue out of state and abroad. As such, the CWA and small businesses are left with no other alternative other than to oppose this illegal privatization scheme in court.
"Despite all his bluster about putting New Jersey first, Governor Christie is handing over the keys of a valuable taxpayer-owned asset to a foreign company with a clear history of fraud and abuse," said Seth Hahn, Legislative and Political Director for CWA. "Christie can claim it's a mere coincidence that the sole bidder hired his campaign manager and his campaign's lawyer as lobbyists last year - but New Jerseyans know better. Rather than working to make our award-winning lottery even stronger, Christie instead went out of his way to ignore clear legal guidance that every other state pursuing lottery privatization has followed. Christie stacked the deck against small business owners and taxpayers with this illegal scheme, ensuring that the matter will now be settled in the courts."
Last night, the Christie Administration announced via email that it was pushing aside the CWA protest of the intent to award the contract. The Department of Treasury can now move forward with awarding the contract - which could take a couple of days to finalize. This means it will be a few days before the public will even have access to the details about what is in the contract. This is simply the Christie Administration's latest move to keep things secretive. Throughout the process, the only information made available on the privatization scheme has been the result of heavily-redacted records obtained through Open Public Records Requests.
For the nearly eight months, the Christie Administration has steadfastly refused to answer basic questions about the monetization of the state's fourth-most valuable asset. The administration has ducked questions at hearings, press conferences and at every other turn. They announced the contract on Friday, April 12th at 4 pm in a continued bid to minimize public knowledge about the deal. Then, recently, a small hearing was held on the CWA's protest of the award - mostly out of the public's eye, again on a Friday afternoon and only allowing two people from CWA to attend.
The contract between the State and Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group violates the original intent and meaning of the New Jersey Constitution, as well as state law - which specifically called for establishing a lottery to be operated by the state. In other words, the constitution requires the lottery be operated publicly so private enterprises cannot damage the public's trust through even the faintest whispers of corruption. Yet, this deal allows a private company to have the lion's share of operational control over what was always intended to be a state-run lottery.
Last month, six members of New Jersey's Congressional delegation sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking the Department of Justice to review the contract. These House members are worried the contract runs counter to a 2008 DOJ opinion which advised that such payments have a corrupting nature and run contrary to the public interest, and therefore likely run afoul of longstanding Federal law. Every state that has moved to privatize portions of its state lottery up to this point has followed the recommendations in the memo. Christie will be the first governor to ignore the guidance of the DOJ.
The Northstar partnership consists of three groups. One is Italian-owned, one's Canadian, and the other hails from Georgia. This partnership includes GTECH, which has a checkered history of fraud, bribery and corruption stretching from Texas to Rhode Island to New Jersey. In fact, Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno prosecuted GTECH's national sales director for a kickback scheme in New Jersey in the 1990s when she was in the U.S. Attorney's Office. In her prosecution, Guadagno argued the firm's corruption was so rampant that the state needed to throw the book at the GTECH official. Guadagno felt so strongly that she released sealed grand jury testimony to the media - a highly unusual step for which she was reprimanded by the New Jersey District Court.
Last year, Christie conducted a study about how to make New Jersey's lottery even better. It showed our award-winning system was one of America's best-run public lotteries - ranking 5th in per capita sales. Growth in online, instant and total sales all far exceeded the national average. In 2010, it had the highest net income margin, making New Jersey our nation's most efficient lottery. Looking at all this information, Christie made the shocking decision to turn sales and marketing functions over to a foreign private corporation. Even worse, despite a 42% growth in sales in the last decade, Northstar will get a cut of profits, up to 5% - if they increase sales just 9% over the next 15 years.
Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group is nearly identical to the firm running the show in Illinois. Following that takeover's first year, they admitted being over $100 million short of revenue projections. The firm then entered into a legal process with the State of Illinois claiming taxpayers owed them $230 million. In just the first half-decade of the contract, they now estimate being $250 million short of revenue estimates.
Aside from being illegal, this scheme is simply bad policy. With nearly one in ten New Jerseyans already out-of-work, lottery privatization is a bad deal - which would make foreign corporations rich while making things worse for taxpayers and small businesses. The Asian American Retailers Association estimates Christie's privatization deal could result in 7,000 jobs lost and that's their conservative estimate. Also, the Christie administration says Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group could earn $1 billion over the life of the contract - meaning a large chunk of lottery profits will be shipped out-of-state and overseas, instead of staying here at home. Moreover, as part of the deal, the state will receive a one-shot, upfront $120 million payment from Northstar. This gimmick has already been taken into account along with other rosy revenue projections for the latest Christie budget proposal.
With all these damning facts coming to light, it's no surprise the Christie Administration has consistently ducked questions and released precious little information on lottery privatization from throughout this process. CWA knows it is clear from what scant details do exist that the contract is illegal, and, as such, will be going to court to appeal.
Monday, May 13, 2013
CWA Testifies Against Christie Civil Service Changes
For Immediate Release:
Monday, May 13th, 2013
“Broad Banding Titles” Would Open Civil Service to Patronage, Corruption & Nepotism With No Public Input
(NEW JERSEY) – Today, Communications Workers of America’s New Jersey State Director Hetty Rosenstein is testifying at a State Government Committee hearing on Governor Chris Christie’s scheme to gut Civil Service and eliminate most competitive promotions with nearly no public input. The hearing will be held at 11 am in Statehouse Committee Room 16 and was called by Committee Chair, Assemblywoman Linda Stender. Others representing those hurt by this wrong-headed proposal – such as the disabled, veterans, LGBT and people of color– will testify, as well.
“Broad banding” titles would hurt hundreds of thousands of workers, as well as expose every single New Jerseyan to higher taxes due to corruption, cronyism, nepotism and patronage. The plan is a wholesale attack on New Jersey’s working families, women, the disabled and people of color. Moreover, it will virtually eliminate veterans’ preference in hiring and promotions.
“This latest Christie scheme will create more patronage and more corruption at all levels by subjecting Civil Service promotions to the whims of political pressure,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director. “Christie’s proposal erodes basic worker protections by gutting a long-standing, transparent, objective system of merit-based promotions. Disabled workers, veterans, LGBT workers, women, workers of color and older workers will all have a major barrier to discrimination dismantled. Amazingly, this is the most radical civil service change in half-a-century, yet the first time requests for public hearings have been flatly denied.”
Governor Christie’s proposal essentially abolishes nearly all objective and transparent measures for promotions and replaces them with "advancement” that will be open to political pressure at all levels of government – municipal, county and state. The Civil Service Commission is seeking to bypass mandated requirements by "broad banding" titles, even though New Jersey’s Constitution requires public jobs be awarded through a competitive testing process wherever possible. Now, management would have latitude to unilaterally “advance” favored workers through the band – based solely on managerial assessment – rather than requiring competitive examination or any formal testing procedures. This would eliminate objective, transparent measures – such as lists of promotion-eligible workers and public postings of who was awarded the position. Moreover, since veterans preference is tied to promotions, this scheme virtually eliminates veterans preference for promotions.
The Christie Administration held a single public hearing in Trenton on the proposal at 3pm on April 10th - a workday. It was virtually impossible for workers opposed to Christie’s proposal to have their voices heard. Those people directly affected deserve a true public process and an opportunity to have their concerns addressed their concerns. Even several legislators, with more flexible schedules, had difficulty attending this sole hearing. Christie has continuously denied requests for more hearings at times and locations when working people all over the state can have a chance to be heard. So, CWA launched a petition for supporters to call on the Civil Service Commission to schedule additional public hearings locations, dates and times. The petition can be viewed and signed at www.cwanj.org.
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries. It represents thousands of public workers both in Civil Service jurisdictions and those that have not adopted Civil Service.
Monday, May 13th, 2013
“Broad Banding Titles” Would Open Civil Service to Patronage, Corruption & Nepotism With No Public Input
(NEW JERSEY) – Today, Communications Workers of America’s New Jersey State Director Hetty Rosenstein is testifying at a State Government Committee hearing on Governor Chris Christie’s scheme to gut Civil Service and eliminate most competitive promotions with nearly no public input. The hearing will be held at 11 am in Statehouse Committee Room 16 and was called by Committee Chair, Assemblywoman Linda Stender. Others representing those hurt by this wrong-headed proposal – such as the disabled, veterans, LGBT and people of color– will testify, as well.
“Broad banding” titles would hurt hundreds of thousands of workers, as well as expose every single New Jerseyan to higher taxes due to corruption, cronyism, nepotism and patronage. The plan is a wholesale attack on New Jersey’s working families, women, the disabled and people of color. Moreover, it will virtually eliminate veterans’ preference in hiring and promotions.
“This latest Christie scheme will create more patronage and more corruption at all levels by subjecting Civil Service promotions to the whims of political pressure,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director. “Christie’s proposal erodes basic worker protections by gutting a long-standing, transparent, objective system of merit-based promotions. Disabled workers, veterans, LGBT workers, women, workers of color and older workers will all have a major barrier to discrimination dismantled. Amazingly, this is the most radical civil service change in half-a-century, yet the first time requests for public hearings have been flatly denied.”
Governor Christie’s proposal essentially abolishes nearly all objective and transparent measures for promotions and replaces them with "advancement” that will be open to political pressure at all levels of government – municipal, county and state. The Civil Service Commission is seeking to bypass mandated requirements by "broad banding" titles, even though New Jersey’s Constitution requires public jobs be awarded through a competitive testing process wherever possible. Now, management would have latitude to unilaterally “advance” favored workers through the band – based solely on managerial assessment – rather than requiring competitive examination or any formal testing procedures. This would eliminate objective, transparent measures – such as lists of promotion-eligible workers and public postings of who was awarded the position. Moreover, since veterans preference is tied to promotions, this scheme virtually eliminates veterans preference for promotions.
The Christie Administration held a single public hearing in Trenton on the proposal at 3pm on April 10th - a workday. It was virtually impossible for workers opposed to Christie’s proposal to have their voices heard. Those people directly affected deserve a true public process and an opportunity to have their concerns addressed their concerns. Even several legislators, with more flexible schedules, had difficulty attending this sole hearing. Christie has continuously denied requests for more hearings at times and locations when working people all over the state can have a chance to be heard. So, CWA launched a petition for supporters to call on the Civil Service Commission to schedule additional public hearings locations, dates and times. The petition can be viewed and signed at www.cwanj.org.
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries. It represents thousands of public workers both in Civil Service jurisdictions and those that have not adopted Civil Service.
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
TOMORROW: CWA Pickets State-Wide
Protesting Christie Scheme To Open Civil Service to Patronage & Nepotism With Nearly No Public Input
(NEW JERSEY) – Tomorrow, members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) will be protesting Governor Chris Christie’s scheme to change Civil Service as we know it. Christie’s proposal erodes protections for workers by eliminating the current system of merit-based promotions. This plan essentially abolishes objective and transparent measures for promotions and replaces them with politically-motivated "advancement.” This is the most radical change to Civil Service in half-a-century, yet the first time requests for public hearings have been flatly denied.
At workplace pickets throughout the state, CWA members will be speaking out against Christie’s plot to “broad band” titles - which would hurt hundreds of thousands of workers, as well as expose every single New Jerseyan to higher taxes due to corruption, cronyism, and patronage. Christie’s proposal will eliminate most competitive promotions and open the door to a flood of favoritism, nepotism and discrimination. The plan is a wholesale attack on New Jersey’s working families, women, the disabled and people of color. Moreover, it will entirely eliminate veterans’ preference in hiring and promotions.
“This latest Christie scheme to gut Civil Service will create more patronage and corruption at all levels by putting every single advancement at the mercy of political pressure,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director. “We’re holding pickets in municipalities throughout New Jersey to highlight how both state and local government will be harmed. This proposal unfairly rigs the rules so those who buy influence or enjoy special connections can get ahead…while disabled workers, LGBT workers, women, workers of color, older worker, and veterans will all have a major barrier to discrimination destroyed and the public will be harmed.”
CWA Protests will be at the following locations: Noon-1 p.m.
Trenton Area:
Department of Labor, 1 John Fitch Parkway
Civil Service Commission, 44 South Clinton Street
Department of Banking and Insurance, corner of Warren and West State
Department of Environmental Protection, 401 E State St
Department of Health and Agriculture, 369 S. Warren St.
Central Jersey:
342 Westminster Ave, Elizabeth
181 Howe Lane, New Brunswick
200 West 2nd Street, Plainfield
North Jersey:
650 Bloomfield Ave, Bloomfield
125 State Street, Hackensack
50-58 Burnett Ave, Maplewood
124 &153 Halsey Street, Newark
100 Hamilton Plaza, Patterson
South Jersey:
101 Haddon Ave, Camden NJ
215 Crown Point Rd, Thorofare, NJ
1601 Atlantic Ave, Atlantic City
Even though New Jersey’s Constitution requires public jobs be awarded through a competitive testing process wherever possible, the Civil Service Commission is seeking to bypass these mandated requirements by "broad banding" titles. They’re aiming to place dozens - and possibly hundreds - of titles into “job bands” where management would be allowed to unilaterally “advance” favored workers through the band rather than requiring competitive examination. This would eliminate objective and transparent measures – such as lists of promotion-eligible workers, public postings of who was awarded the position. Since veterans preference is tied to promotions, it eliminates veterans preference in the 90% of cases where there will no longer be promotions.
The Christie Administration held a single public hearing in Trenton on the proposal at 3pm on April 10th - a workday. To say that the hearing was scheduled at an inconvenient time would be an understatement, as even several legislators had difficulty attending. It was virtually impossible for workers opposed to Christie’s proposal to have their voices heard. Those people directly affected deserve a true public process and an opportunity to have their concerns addressed their concerns.Christie has denied requests for more hearings at times and locations when working people all over the state can have a chance to be heard. So, CWA has launched a petition for supporters to call on the CSC to schedule additional public hearings locations, dates and times. The petition can be viewed and signed at www.cwanj.org.
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries. It represents thousands of public workers both in Civil Service jurisdictions and those that have not adopted Civil Service.
(NEW JERSEY) – Tomorrow, members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) will be protesting Governor Chris Christie’s scheme to change Civil Service as we know it. Christie’s proposal erodes protections for workers by eliminating the current system of merit-based promotions. This plan essentially abolishes objective and transparent measures for promotions and replaces them with politically-motivated "advancement.” This is the most radical change to Civil Service in half-a-century, yet the first time requests for public hearings have been flatly denied.
At workplace pickets throughout the state, CWA members will be speaking out against Christie’s plot to “broad band” titles - which would hurt hundreds of thousands of workers, as well as expose every single New Jerseyan to higher taxes due to corruption, cronyism, and patronage. Christie’s proposal will eliminate most competitive promotions and open the door to a flood of favoritism, nepotism and discrimination. The plan is a wholesale attack on New Jersey’s working families, women, the disabled and people of color. Moreover, it will entirely eliminate veterans’ preference in hiring and promotions.
“This latest Christie scheme to gut Civil Service will create more patronage and corruption at all levels by putting every single advancement at the mercy of political pressure,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director. “We’re holding pickets in municipalities throughout New Jersey to highlight how both state and local government will be harmed. This proposal unfairly rigs the rules so those who buy influence or enjoy special connections can get ahead…while disabled workers, LGBT workers, women, workers of color, older worker, and veterans will all have a major barrier to discrimination destroyed and the public will be harmed.”
CWA Protests will be at the following locations: Noon-1 p.m.
Trenton Area:
Department of Labor, 1 John Fitch Parkway
Civil Service Commission, 44 South Clinton Street
Department of Banking and Insurance, corner of Warren and West State
Department of Environmental Protection, 401 E State St
Department of Health and Agriculture, 369 S. Warren St.
Central Jersey:
342 Westminster Ave, Elizabeth
181 Howe Lane, New Brunswick
200 West 2nd Street, Plainfield
North Jersey:
650 Bloomfield Ave, Bloomfield
125 State Street, Hackensack
50-58 Burnett Ave, Maplewood
124 &153 Halsey Street, Newark
100 Hamilton Plaza, Patterson
South Jersey:
101 Haddon Ave, Camden NJ
215 Crown Point Rd, Thorofare, NJ
1601 Atlantic Ave, Atlantic City
Even though New Jersey’s Constitution requires public jobs be awarded through a competitive testing process wherever possible, the Civil Service Commission is seeking to bypass these mandated requirements by "broad banding" titles. They’re aiming to place dozens - and possibly hundreds - of titles into “job bands” where management would be allowed to unilaterally “advance” favored workers through the band rather than requiring competitive examination. This would eliminate objective and transparent measures – such as lists of promotion-eligible workers, public postings of who was awarded the position. Since veterans preference is tied to promotions, it eliminates veterans preference in the 90% of cases where there will no longer be promotions.
The Christie Administration held a single public hearing in Trenton on the proposal at 3pm on April 10th - a workday. To say that the hearing was scheduled at an inconvenient time would be an understatement, as even several legislators had difficulty attending. It was virtually impossible for workers opposed to Christie’s proposal to have their voices heard. Those people directly affected deserve a true public process and an opportunity to have their concerns addressed their concerns.Christie has denied requests for more hearings at times and locations when working people all over the state can have a chance to be heard. So, CWA has launched a petition for supporters to call on the CSC to schedule additional public hearings locations, dates and times. The petition can be viewed and signed at www.cwanj.org.
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries. It represents thousands of public workers both in Civil Service jurisdictions and those that have not adopted Civil Service.
Friday, April 19, 2013
CWA Files Protest to Christie Administration's Illegal Lottery Privatization Scheme
For Immediate Release:
(TRENTON, NJ) - In response to the Christie Administration’s decision to award a 15-year contract to privatize the New Jersey State Lottery’s marketing and sales operations to Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group - the sole bidder with a questionable track record – the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO and CWA Locals 1033 and 1037 sent a letter of protest to the NJ Department of Treasury.
"We already know that Christie’s lottery privatization is going to cost jobs, send profits overseas and be a horrible deal for taxpayers. The sad fact is that this scheme is also illegal,” said Seth Hahn, Legislative and Political Director for CWA NJ. “The Christie Administration wants to award an extremely profitable public asset to a politically-connected firm with a history of fraud and abuse. To make matters worse, this inside deal clearly violates the New Jersey State Constitution and betrays the public interest.”
Among other things, the contract violates the original intent and meaning of the New Jersey Constitution, as well as state law - which specifically called for establishing a lottery to be “operated by the state.” In other words, the constitution requires the lottery be operated publicly so private enterprises cannot damage the public’s trust through even the faintest whispers of corruption. Yet, this deal allows a private company to have the lion’s share of operational control over what was always intended to be a state-run lottery.
As part of the deal, the state will receive a one-shot, upfront $120 million payment from Northstar. CWA’s protest letter comes one day after 6 members of New Jersey’s Congressional delegation sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking the Department of Justice to review the contract. These House members are worried the contract runs counter to a 2008 DOJ opinion which advised that such payments have a corrupting nature and run contrary to the public interest, and therefore likely run afoul of longstanding Federal law.
The Northstar partnership consists of three groups. One is Italian-owned, one’s Canadian, and the other hails from Georgia. This partnership includes GTECH – which has a checkered history of fraud, bribery and corruption stretching from Texas to Rhode Island to New Jersey. In fact, Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno prosecuted GTECH’s national sales director for a kickback scheme in New Jersey in the 1990s when she was in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In her prosecution, Guadagno argued the firm’s corruption was so rampant that the state needed to throw the book at the GTECH official. Guadagno felt so strongly that she released sealed grand jury testimony to the media, a highly unusual step for which she was reprimanded by the New Jersey District Court.
Last year, Christie conducted a study about how to make New Jersey’s lottery even better. It showed our award-winning system was one of America’s best-run public lotteries - ranking 5th in per capita sales. Growth in online, instant and total sales all far exceeded the national average. In 2010, it had the highest net income margin – making New Jersey our nation’s most efficient lottery. Looking at all this information, Christie made the shocking decision to turn sales and marketing functions over to a foreign private corporation. Even worse, despite a 42% growth in sales in the last decade, Northstar will get a cut of profits – up to 5% - if they increase sales just 9% over the next 15 years.
Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group is nearly identical to the firm running the show in Illinois. Following that takeover’s first year, they admitted being over $100 million short of revenue projections. The firm then entered into a legal process with the State of Illinois claiming taxpayers owed them $230 million. In just the first half-decade of the contract, they now estimate being $250 million short of revenue estimates.
Aside from being illegal, this scheme is simply bad policy. With one in ten New Jerseyans already out-of-work, lottery privatization is a bad deal which would make foreign corporations rich while making things worse for taxpayers and small businesses. The Asian American Retailers Association estimates Christie’s privatization deal could result in 7,000 jobs lost – and that’s their conservative estimate. Also, the Christie administration says Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group could earn $1 billion over the life of the contract - meaning a large chunk of lottery profits will be shipped out-of-state and overseas, instead of staying here at home.
It’s no surprise that the Christie Administration has consistently ducked questions and released precious little information on lottery privatization from the start. For the past seven months, Christie has taken the position that it would be inappropriate to answer questions about the monetization of the state’s fourth-most valuable asset. The Administration has refused to answer questions at hearings, press conferences and at every other turn. Then at 4 p.m. last Friday, April 12th, they announced the contract in a continued bid to keep things quiet and minimize public knowledge about the deal.
Unfortunately for New Jersey residents, the deck has been stacked from the beginning. This privatization scheme will undoubtedly harm New Jersey’s small business owners, taxpayers and fiscal health. Not only is it illegal, but it could also cost our state thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.
Plan To Award Contract to Shady Private Firm Violates NJ Constitution
"We already know that Christie’s lottery privatization is going to cost jobs, send profits overseas and be a horrible deal for taxpayers. The sad fact is that this scheme is also illegal,” said Seth Hahn, Legislative and Political Director for CWA NJ. “The Christie Administration wants to award an extremely profitable public asset to a politically-connected firm with a history of fraud and abuse. To make matters worse, this inside deal clearly violates the New Jersey State Constitution and betrays the public interest.”
Among other things, the contract violates the original intent and meaning of the New Jersey Constitution, as well as state law - which specifically called for establishing a lottery to be “operated by the state.” In other words, the constitution requires the lottery be operated publicly so private enterprises cannot damage the public’s trust through even the faintest whispers of corruption. Yet, this deal allows a private company to have the lion’s share of operational control over what was always intended to be a state-run lottery.
As part of the deal, the state will receive a one-shot, upfront $120 million payment from Northstar. CWA’s protest letter comes one day after 6 members of New Jersey’s Congressional delegation sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking the Department of Justice to review the contract. These House members are worried the contract runs counter to a 2008 DOJ opinion which advised that such payments have a corrupting nature and run contrary to the public interest, and therefore likely run afoul of longstanding Federal law.
The Northstar partnership consists of three groups. One is Italian-owned, one’s Canadian, and the other hails from Georgia. This partnership includes GTECH – which has a checkered history of fraud, bribery and corruption stretching from Texas to Rhode Island to New Jersey. In fact, Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno prosecuted GTECH’s national sales director for a kickback scheme in New Jersey in the 1990s when she was in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In her prosecution, Guadagno argued the firm’s corruption was so rampant that the state needed to throw the book at the GTECH official. Guadagno felt so strongly that she released sealed grand jury testimony to the media, a highly unusual step for which she was reprimanded by the New Jersey District Court.
Last year, Christie conducted a study about how to make New Jersey’s lottery even better. It showed our award-winning system was one of America’s best-run public lotteries - ranking 5th in per capita sales. Growth in online, instant and total sales all far exceeded the national average. In 2010, it had the highest net income margin – making New Jersey our nation’s most efficient lottery. Looking at all this information, Christie made the shocking decision to turn sales and marketing functions over to a foreign private corporation. Even worse, despite a 42% growth in sales in the last decade, Northstar will get a cut of profits – up to 5% - if they increase sales just 9% over the next 15 years.
Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group is nearly identical to the firm running the show in Illinois. Following that takeover’s first year, they admitted being over $100 million short of revenue projections. The firm then entered into a legal process with the State of Illinois claiming taxpayers owed them $230 million. In just the first half-decade of the contract, they now estimate being $250 million short of revenue estimates.
Aside from being illegal, this scheme is simply bad policy. With one in ten New Jerseyans already out-of-work, lottery privatization is a bad deal which would make foreign corporations rich while making things worse for taxpayers and small businesses. The Asian American Retailers Association estimates Christie’s privatization deal could result in 7,000 jobs lost – and that’s their conservative estimate. Also, the Christie administration says Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group could earn $1 billion over the life of the contract - meaning a large chunk of lottery profits will be shipped out-of-state and overseas, instead of staying here at home.
It’s no surprise that the Christie Administration has consistently ducked questions and released precious little information on lottery privatization from the start. For the past seven months, Christie has taken the position that it would be inappropriate to answer questions about the monetization of the state’s fourth-most valuable asset. The Administration has refused to answer questions at hearings, press conferences and at every other turn. Then at 4 p.m. last Friday, April 12th, they announced the contract in a continued bid to keep things quiet and minimize public knowledge about the deal.
Unfortunately for New Jersey residents, the deck has been stacked from the beginning. This privatization scheme will undoubtedly harm New Jersey’s small business owners, taxpayers and fiscal health. Not only is it illegal, but it could also cost our state thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.
Friday, April 5, 2013
CWA CALLS ON CHRISTIE TO HOLD LEGITIMATE PUBLIC HEARINGS ON CIVIL SERVICE BROAD BANDING
Holding One Meeting in Trenton at 3 pm is Affront to Good Government & a Slap in the Face to Working Families.
(TRENTON, NJ) – Next Wednesday, April 10th, the New Jersey Civil Service Commission (CSC) will hold a single public hearing on a rule proposal eliminating Civil Service as we know it. The proposal will eliminate most competitive promotions and open the door to a flood of patronage, favoritism and discrimination. It will completely eliminate veterans’ preference in hiring and promotions.
Civil Rights organizations, advocates for the disabled, veterans’ groups, legislative leaders, unions and concerned citizens will all attend the hearing - to be held at 3 p.m. in a small room at the Civil Service Commission in Trenton. However, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) is calling on the CSC to hold additional public hearings in other parts of the state, so working families are able to have their voices heard via a true, public vetting process before the Christie Administration adopts the most radical changes to Civil Service in decades.
“The Civil Service Commission scheduled a single, rubber-stamp public hearing as if it’s one of the Governor’s Town Hall meetings – holding it in the middle of the week during working hours, making it virtually impossible for those affected or who may be opposed to have their voices heard,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director. “They’ll simply put up a stenographer to record testimony and then jam through whatever they wanted to do in the first place - public good be damned. Over the past thirty years, I’ve been through dozens of rule change hearings, yet this is the first time I can recall that Civil Service did not accommodate a request for more public hearings.”
Even though the New Jersey Constitution requires public jobs be awarded through a competitive testing process wherever possible, the CSC is seeking to bypass Constitutional requirements by "broad banding" titles. They want to place dozens and possibly hundreds of titles into “job bands” where management would be allowed to unilaterally “advance” favored workers through the band instead of requiring competitive examination. This would eliminate transparent lists of promotion-eligible workers, public postings of who was awarded the position. It would also eliminate the preference that veterans and disabled veterans not be bypassed promotion if they meet eligibility requirements and score high enough on the list.
“Every single advancement will be subject to political pressure,” added Rosenstein, “Disabled workers, LGBT workers, women, workers of color, older workers, and veterans will all have to overcome prejudice every step of the way.”
Not only does the new regulation allow discriminatory advancement, it also eliminates the one neutral avenue to appeal. Under the current system, if discrimination is alleged as the reason for not receiving a promotion, the worker can go before a neutral judge to present proof of discrimination at the Office of Administrative Law. That course of action is completely eliminated under the proposal.
The proposed rule change could affect hundreds of thousands of workers, as well as expose every single New Jerseyan to higher taxes due to corruption, cronyism and special favors. CSC should hold a public process that is accessible to those taxpayers and workers who would be directly affected by any rule changes. They all deserve a chance to have their voices heard in a meaningful way.
As such, CWA has launched a petition for supporters to call on the CSC to additional public hearings locations, dates and times. The petition can be viewed – and signed - at www.cwanj.org.
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries. It represents thousands of public workers both in Civil Service jurisdictions and those that have not adopted Civil Service.
(TRENTON, NJ) – Next Wednesday, April 10th, the New Jersey Civil Service Commission (CSC) will hold a single public hearing on a rule proposal eliminating Civil Service as we know it. The proposal will eliminate most competitive promotions and open the door to a flood of patronage, favoritism and discrimination. It will completely eliminate veterans’ preference in hiring and promotions.
Civil Rights organizations, advocates for the disabled, veterans’ groups, legislative leaders, unions and concerned citizens will all attend the hearing - to be held at 3 p.m. in a small room at the Civil Service Commission in Trenton. However, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) is calling on the CSC to hold additional public hearings in other parts of the state, so working families are able to have their voices heard via a true, public vetting process before the Christie Administration adopts the most radical changes to Civil Service in decades.
“The Civil Service Commission scheduled a single, rubber-stamp public hearing as if it’s one of the Governor’s Town Hall meetings – holding it in the middle of the week during working hours, making it virtually impossible for those affected or who may be opposed to have their voices heard,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director. “They’ll simply put up a stenographer to record testimony and then jam through whatever they wanted to do in the first place - public good be damned. Over the past thirty years, I’ve been through dozens of rule change hearings, yet this is the first time I can recall that Civil Service did not accommodate a request for more public hearings.”
Even though the New Jersey Constitution requires public jobs be awarded through a competitive testing process wherever possible, the CSC is seeking to bypass Constitutional requirements by "broad banding" titles. They want to place dozens and possibly hundreds of titles into “job bands” where management would be allowed to unilaterally “advance” favored workers through the band instead of requiring competitive examination. This would eliminate transparent lists of promotion-eligible workers, public postings of who was awarded the position. It would also eliminate the preference that veterans and disabled veterans not be bypassed promotion if they meet eligibility requirements and score high enough on the list.
“Every single advancement will be subject to political pressure,” added Rosenstein, “Disabled workers, LGBT workers, women, workers of color, older workers, and veterans will all have to overcome prejudice every step of the way.”
Not only does the new regulation allow discriminatory advancement, it also eliminates the one neutral avenue to appeal. Under the current system, if discrimination is alleged as the reason for not receiving a promotion, the worker can go before a neutral judge to present proof of discrimination at the Office of Administrative Law. That course of action is completely eliminated under the proposal.
The proposed rule change could affect hundreds of thousands of workers, as well as expose every single New Jerseyan to higher taxes due to corruption, cronyism and special favors. CSC should hold a public process that is accessible to those taxpayers and workers who would be directly affected by any rule changes. They all deserve a chance to have their voices heard in a meaningful way.
As such, CWA has launched a petition for supporters to call on the CSC to additional public hearings locations, dates and times. The petition can be viewed – and signed - at www.cwanj.org.
The Communications Workers of America (AFL-CIO) represents both private sector and public workers. CWA represents more than 70,000 working families in New Jersey, including over 40,000 state workers, 15,000 county and municipal workers, and thousands of workers in the telecommunications, airlines, health care and direct care industries. It represents thousands of public workers both in Civil Service jurisdictions and those that have not adopted Civil Service.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
CWA RELEASES TV COMMERCIAL: Tell Governor Christie To Stop His Lottery Privatization Scheme
Could Cost 7K NJ Jobs & Ship Profits Overseas to Foreign Corporations
(TRENTON, NJ) – Today, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) launched a six-figure ad campaign to educate New Jersey residents about Governor Chris Christie’s short-sighted scheme to privatize the state lottery. The television commercial will run as a statewide cable buy for the next few weeks. You can view the :30 second spot – entitled “Bad” below.
“Even though New Jersey has an efficient, award-winning lottery, Governor Christie is stubbornly seeking to privatize it. This is a big gamble in terms of both job loss and our state’s economy,” said Seth Hahn, Legislative and Political Director for CWA NJ. “With one in ten New Jerseyans already out-of-work, lottery privatization is a bad deal which would make foreign corporations rich while making things worse for taxpayers and small businesses.”
Only a single bid to run sales and marketing functions of the state lottery was submitted on December 27, 2012, and it was by a partnership consisting of three groups. One is Italian-owned, one is Canadian, and the other is from New York. The Christie administration estimates that $1 billion or more could go to the company over the life of the contract - meaning New Jersey dollars will be sent out-of-state and overseas.
To increase sales, the playing field will be tilted away from Main Street and small businesses and towards big boxes and chain stores. In fact, the Asian American Retailers Association (AARA) estimates the privatization scheme could result in 7,000 New Jersey jobs lost. AARA estimates local lottery vendors will lose a third of sales in the first year alone. Moreover, they’ll lose secondary sales that come with the purchase of lottery tickets - such as newspapers, coffee and other daily-purchased items. In other words, a politically-connected foreign corporation would rake in profits, while New Jersey’s local businesses would lose both revenue and jobs.
“Rather than stripping customers away from small businesses at a time when our state has the nation’s fourth worst unemployment, the governor should be working to make the lottery even stronger with dedicated public employees,” said Hahn. “We’re willing to roll up our sleeves and get this done if Governor Christie is, too.”
As part of the push to privatize, Governor Christie commissioned a study that showed how New Jersey’s award-winning lottery was one of the nation’s best-run public lotteries. The study found that our lottery had the highest net income margin in the country – making New Jersey America’s most efficient lottery. It ranks 5th in per capita sales, while online, instant and total sales growth have all far exceeded the national average. Nonetheless, Christie is still making the shocking decision to turn sales and marketing functions over to a foreign private company. Even worse, despite a 42% growth in sales from 2000-2010, this politically-connected firm will get a cut of profits if it increases sales a mere 9% over the next 15 years. The arrangement will also put taxpayers on the hook if the State wants out of the bad deal.
Just as the Christie administration has ducked questions on Ash Britt and Superstorm Sandy clean-up contracts, it has also refused to answer questions about plans for the lottery. In Pennsylvania, Republican Governor Tom Corbett was up-front regarding how their new lottery would function, and what, if any regulations would be changed to accommodate the new vendor. However, the Christie administration has repeatedly refused to answer basic questions, even rejecting invitations from the Assembly Budget Committee on two occasions. These rebuffs led the New Jersey State Assembly to seek subpoena power over executive branch officials on issues with significant budget impacts.
Today, the New Jersey Senate’s State Government Committee is discussing two pieces of legislation on the matter in Trenton. One bill requires legislative approval for private operation of the state lottery. The second is a resolution calling on Governor Christie to seek legal counsel from the Department of Justice before awarding the contract.
For more information on lottery privatization and efforts to stop it, please visit www.BigGambleNJ.com
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Hypocrite Handlin's "Right to Work" Article Is Biased And Fails To Tell The Whole Story.
Readers may find Amy Handlin's article about the "Right to Work" and unions rather interesting even though it is somewhat biased and fails to tell the whole story.
Since I am a life member of the Communications Workers of America" union ( a member since 1953 when I went to work for the telephone company...it was New Jersey Bell then and was Bell Atlantic when I retired in 1989 and is Verizon today) ,and CWA was a union that represented only telephone workers and was an "agency shop" not a "closed shop", my view of the situation differs from Ms. Handlin's point of view.
Unions are businesses also and they are in the business of representation..........thus CWA represents public workers today because technology has diminished the number of telephone workers. Since it requires many members to accomplish goals on behalf of membership,CWA expanded it's membership into the public sector where the growth of potential membership existed. The old adage is "there is strength in numbers " .
Everyone benefits from the unions accomplishments,even management who are not usually unionized ( police are one exception). CWA was always considered one of the most democratic ( not in the political sense) of the major unions in this country.
Distortion of the facts for political purposes serves no one . The republicans do a good job at the blame game but they have no compunction in failing to tell the whole truth for political purposes. Union membership is comprised of both Republicans and Democrats........lots of people from each party. It is not all about politics, it's about "fair representation" of workers rights.
Barbara Thorpe
Lincroft NJ
Unions are businesses also and they are in the business of representation..........thus CWA represents public workers today because technology has diminished the number of telephone workers. Since it requires many members to accomplish goals on behalf of membership,CWA expanded it's membership into the public sector where the growth of potential membership existed. The old adage is "there is strength in numbers " .
Everyone benefits from the unions accomplishments,even management who are not usually unionized ( police are one exception). CWA was always considered one of the most democratic ( not in the political sense) of the major unions in this country.
Distortion of the facts for political purposes serves no one . The republicans do a good job at the blame game but they have no compunction in failing to tell the whole truth for political purposes. Union membership is comprised of both Republicans and Democrats........lots of people from each party. It is not all about politics, it's about "fair representation" of workers rights.
Barbara Thorpe
Lincroft NJ
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