CWA Activists in New Jersey Issue Local and State Demands

After 15 months of bargaining, social workers represented by CWA Local 1084 in Camden County, N.J., staged a lunchtime Protest Picket last week to demand a fair contract and an end to the county’s delays. Approximately 150 workers and allies participated in the mobilization, filling the Camden County Board of Social Services meeting. Allies included CWA Local 1014, members of Rutgers-AAUP-AFT, and members of Citizen Action NJ.

Member concerns include bridging pay disparities between workers in similar positions and securing a pay increase to keep up with rebounding inflation. A top issue facing members is the unaffordability of healthcare.

“We want a fair and transformational contract,” said CWA Local 1084 President Stephen Johnson. “Workers haven’t seen a raise in eight years. Inflation and healthcare costs are dragging more and more dedicated public servants below the poverty line.

 
CWA Local 1084 members, with CWA Local 1014 members, supporters, and allies from AAUP-AFT and Citizen Action NJ, picketed outside the Camden County Board of Social Services office before entering to demand progress in bargaining.

On Monday in New Jersey, hundreds of CWA members rallied and held a press conference alongside representatives from AFSCME N.J., AAUP-AFT, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, and others, calling on state lawmakers to take urgent action to address the unaffordable healthcare crisis. Since 2022, state workers have seen healthcare costs increase by 40%, while local government workers have borne the brunt of a nearly 60% increase.

“Healthcare costs in N.J. have been a runaway train, and it’s long past time that our elected leaders step up and work with us to put a stop to it,” said CWA District 1 Vice President Dennis Trainor. “It’s simply unacceptable that we have workers forced to rely on food stamps to make ends meet while working full time for the state. This isn’t right, and it’s not sustainable. Lawmakers MUST make it a priority to fix this broken system and care for this state.”

“Public workers are now faced with a devastating choice: their healthcare or their financial stability,” said CWA Local 1084 Vice President Tammy Carr. “Promotions, which should be a cause of celebration, now come with a heavy burden of higher healthcare costs to the point where dedicated employees are requesting demotions to afford their healthcare.”

 
Hundreds of CWA members, along with coalition allies and supporters, rallied to call on New Jersey state lawmakers to take urgent action to address the unaffordable healthcare crisis.

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This post originally appeared on cwa-union.org.