20th District Legislators Send Letter to Governor Citing Recent Negotiation Successes with Turnpike & Meadowlands Workers
Citing recently successful negotiations that have led to cost savings, Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, Assembly Majority Leader Joe Cryan and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano today called on Governor Christie to come to the bargaining table and negotiate the changes he is seeking for state worker health care benefits.
“State worker unions have demonstrated their willingness to sacrifice for the greater good of our state. They have proposed concessions that would serve as a good starting point for negotiations. Now it’s up to the Governor to be willing to listen and negotiate in earnest,” said Lesniak (D-Union).
In doing so, the 20th District legislators sent a letter to Christie today asking him to honor the more than 75 year right employees have to collectively bargain while living up to his obligation to negotiate a fair agreement to protect the taxpayers of New Jersey.
The lawmakers noted that Christie, himself, declared his “love” for collective bargaining at a town hall meeting in Hillsborough in early March.
“The Governor’s self-professed love for collective bargaining should be all the more incentive for him to come to the table and hammer out an agreement with state workers that achieves his desired goals. It is not reasonable or productive to be willing to negotiate with certain employee unions and not others,” said Cryan (D-Union).
In their letter, the lawmakers pointed to the recent agreements reached at the bargaining table between workers at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and the Meadowlands Racetrack that have helped preserve jobs and save the state money.
“For nearly a century, collective bargaining has served as a fair means to protect both worker and employee interests. Health care is among the many benefits that should be included in the negotiations that the administration has begun with state workers,” said Quijano (D-Union).