A captive crowd of PreK-12 and higher education faculty and staff gathered Aug. 16 for the AFTNJ Activist Conference at the Rutgers Labor Education Center in New Brunswick.
“If I had to pick a theme for this meeting today,” AFTNJ President Donna M. Chiera said in her opening remarks, “a lot of it’s going to be political [and have to do with] where we’re going to be in the next couple of years.”…
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Gov. Phil Murphy on March 2 visited Montgomery Upper Middle School in Skillman to highlight K-12 school funding in his fiscal year 2024 budget, which he unveiled Feb. 28.
“As I told New Jerseyans on Tuesday, this next New Jersey is going to be grounded on three central tenets: affordability, responsibility and opportunity,” Murphy said.…
AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFTNJ President Donna M. Chiera were among the speakers Oct. 16 at the Legislative District 16 Canvass Kickoff in Princeton, attended by Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate candidate Andrew Zwicker, and Assembly candidates Roy Freiman and Sadaf Jaffer.
Weingarten, the closing speaker, spent a few minutes addressing recent comments former Gov. Chris Christie made when asked on TV about threats of violence against educators and school boards.…
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All State employees are eligible to vote on PERS Board nominations by visiting https://vote.election-america.com/PERS-State/. Please log in and sign on to nominate Carey Brown before 5:00 PM on Jan. 5.
“After serving one term on the PERS Board, it is clear that State Workers need someone from the rank and file who understands our issues.…
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By Charles Wowkanech
Union pension trustees almost fell out of their chairs at last week’s State Investment Council meeting, when Chairman Tom Byrne boldly declared that “the pension funds are healthy until 2025.”
Perhaps he missed the record high 11 credit downgrades the state has suffered during Gov. Chris Christie’s term – the most of any governor in our state’s history.…
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Over the past year, AFT New Jersey leaders and activists have been working intensely on building support for an amendment to the state constitution to mandate quarterly pension payments. Our members distributed educational literature about the benefits of the measure, knocked on doors to talk to other union members and made phone calls to raise awareness of the importance of funding public worker pensions.…
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John Reitmeyer
Sweeney continues to tie the amendment to getting a veto-proof majority for his plan to renew the Transportation Trust Fund
Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) was supported by advocates for seniors and the disabled as well as union and construction representatives.
With the deadline for final legislative approval of a proposed constitutional amendment to boost public-employee pension funding now just days away, it appears more likely than ever that it will not be put before voters this fall.…
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By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
New Jersey’s state pension fund plans to slash its hedge fund investments by half, becoming the latest large investor to protest high fees and poor returns after New York and California made similar moves.
The New Jersey Investment Council on Wednesday unanimously voted to reduce its exposure to hedge funds to 6 percent from 12.5 percent, the state and a union official said.…
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Samantha Marcus, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
TRENTON — The State Investment Council on Wednesday agreed to slash New Jersey’s investments of public-sector pension dollars in hedge funds by more than half, responding to labor union concerns that the alternative investments aren’t paying off.
At the council’s last meeting in May, union representatives called for drastic reduction in the pension system’s hedge fund stake, from 12.5 percent to 4 percent, but the move failed on a tie vote.…
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By Samantha Marcus, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
TRENTON — The New Jersey Senate has until Monday to vote to submit a proposed constitutional amendment to the fall ballot for voter approval.
Until this summer, the question was whether that ballot measure would succeed or fail. But now it’s uncertain whether it will make it to the ballot at all, as one complicated and fraught matter — public worker pensions — gets pulled into another — transportation funding.…
Read MoreTRENTON— Angry over the uncertainty of a constitutional amendment requiring the state to contribute annually to their pensions, public workers on Monday rallied outside the Statehouse and called for Senate President Stephen Sweeney to put the measure up for a vote.
With chants of “Post the bill!
John Reitmeyer
Democratic leaders still scrambling to get enough support to override expected vetoes by Gov. Christie
Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen)
The New Jersey Senate is holding its first voting session in over a month this afternoon, but legislation seeking to renew the state Transportation Trust Fund with a gas-tax hike may not make the final agenda.…
By John Reitmeyer
NJ Senate President Sweeney says officials need to be honest with the public and state workers about the problem
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), left, participating in a panel discussion on state pension funding Other panelists, from left, included former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch.…
Read MoreBy Samantha Marcus, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
PHILADELPHIA — Just a few miles from the Democratic National Convention, party leaders — including Senate President Stephen Sweeney and one of the campaign’s early presidential candidates — put the big New Jersey problem of public employee pensions center stage.
And Sweeney offered a new path, saying New Jersey’s beleaguered pension system should consider investing in infrastructure projects for more reliable returns.…
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