CWA LOCAL 1036

Below are the results of the Local Executive Board election concluded in December for contested positions:

Vice President, At-Large

Theresa Gonzales

June Gazek-Harris

Vice President, NJ State Professional Unit

David Harris 

Fariva Azad-Chauhan

Nominations also closed for Officers of the 1036-R Retirees Chapter. All nominees have been elected by acclamation. 

President - Christine Benson

Vice President - Joy Bastian

Treasurer - Lawrence Kane

Secretary - Toshi Abe

The nominations period for Local 1036 Executive Board officer positions closed at 5pm on November 16, 2018. Nominating petitions that were submitted by this deadline were verified on November 19th and results are reported below: 

Any office with an uncontested position is deemed elected. The positions elected after close of the nomincations process are below: 

An election is required for the following positions. An election will be held in December.

Download Retro Estimate Worksheet & Salary Charts [Adobe PDF]

Members should recieve retro payments by 10/26/2018.

Above is a worksheet for State Executive Branch members to use to estimate retro pay. This is a useful tool to estimate retro, but the actual calculations and payments are being made by your Department's Payroll office.  The worksheet is an estimator - it comes close to the gross total retro that a member should receive. The estimate will be a few dollars off based on a member's anniversary date.

For members who had title changes (promotion, demotion) since July 1, 2015 to present, this will affect the final salary calculations. Unpaid leaves of absence will also affect retro.

Here are the steps to follow for retro inquiries:

1). State worker members all received an email from their Department's Payroll office with instructions if they have a dispute or question. Some Payroll offices circulated an "Inquiry Form" that the member can fill out and email to a specific address that is collecting retro problems. Members should complete that form or email Payroll - they should follow the instructions sent to them by their Payroll Departments.

Members should contact Payroll first - this is the lowest level of dispute resolution. If things are not sorted out with Departmental Payroll, then level two is to escalate the dispute to the Union.

Depending on the number of questions and disputes, Payroll may be scheduling meetings with members or call-backs within two weeks. Responses may not be immediate.

CWA will ensure every member receives every dollar owed. The State did not provide backup explanations for the multiple checks which has led to a lot of confusion. It may take a little time to work through problems, but the Union will enforce our contract and ensure every member is paid what is owed under the contract.

2). Please try to use the Estimate Worksheet.

Members should always be educated on their salary, their anniversary dates, and how the contract works. This retro situation is an opportunity for all members to take a closer look at the contract, how they are paid, and to be more aware of the process.

3). CWA staff will help with and respond to urgent situations as quickly as possible.

Thanks to everyone as we work through this. Let’s remember Chris Christie blocked step payments and refused to negotiate in good faith for three years. This created a backlog of raises that this contract successfully reinstated, but it’s a huge mess to cleanup. One more remnant of a bad 8 years.

Congratulations to our JCAU members voted by a strong majority to approve a new contract with the NJ State Judiciary for the Support Staff and Supervisors bargaining units. 

We thank every member who voted. We thank every Steward who helped inform members about the agreement, helped members with voting, and brought new members into the Union. And we thank every member for staying strong during negotiations. 

Ballots were counted on August 23, 2018.

Below are combined results from CWA, IFPTE, Teamsters, AFSCME, and OPEIU which together form the JCAU.

Support Staff Unit:

Supervisors Unit:

Dear CWA 1036 Members,

As expected, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in a 5-4 decision, against workers and their rights to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. The case, Janus v. AFSCME, makes the entire public sector “right-to-work”, which is an ironic moniker for having no rights at work.

By allowing non-members to pay nothing for the services and benefits that having a Union provide; such as grievance representation, collectively bargained raises and benefits, and due process rights for discipline, the purpose of this decision is to undermine the Union, cause division among members and non-members, and make it more difficult to fight for our members.

There are open questions from the decision, such as the extent to which a non-member is still covered under our contract and whether they receive any representation from the Union if they pay no representation fee or dues.

The Janus ruling is a blow, to say the least, but it cannot and will not defeat us. Here in New Jersey, we stood together through eight years of one of the most anti-worker administrations in this state’s history. By standing together and standing firm, we fought off the worst proposals and emerged with a new administration and a new Contract. Make no mistake, we only made it through to this point by standing together as a Union.  When we stand together and commit to fighting for one another we will not only survive whatever they throw at us but grow stronger as a result.

Please also understand that having a Union is what gives us the ability to fight for raises, benefits, and due process protections. Without a strong Union with vigiliant membership, ALL of those things are at risk, including the Contract that we ratified today.

Right now, solidarity and unity are more important than ever. We have no time to mourn, grumble, or pout. 

Janus does one thing for certain – there are no more sidelines.  There are members of the Union, fighting to protect one another and what we have gained by building power for workplace justice, and then there are people outside the Union, who are not a part of it. Our members are our strength and will continue to be. 

In the last month alone, CWA 1036 has been working hard for members: 

• Settled the PNCR Contract, with an overwhelming majority in support;
• Successfully defended our right to progression payments;
• Fought to preserve and defend our pension system;
• Protected members and non-members from the malfeasance of certain managers;
• Signed up almost 100 new members;
• Held dozens of worksite meetings across the state, keeping members informed about everything from workplace to international issues important to workers and their families;
• Are CURRENTLY fighting to stop a state shutdown and make sure that any budget that passes does not endanger our healthcare or pensions

This is the work that our MEMBERS do. These are the victories that our MEMBERS win.   None of it is guaranteed unless we keep fighting for it.

We are still CWA STRONG!

SOLIDARITY FOREVER.

PS - For more information on this decision, please visit:  

https://www.cwa-union.org/cwa-strong-janus-decision-materials

CWA members voted by a strong majority to approve a new contract with the NJ State Judiciary for the Professional NonCase Related bargaining unit.

We thank every member who voted. We thank every Steward who helped inform members about the agreement, helped members with voting, and brought new members into the Union. And we thank every member in advance for staying strong during negotiations. 

Ballots were counted on June 29, 2018. Below are complete results. 

CWA members voted to approve new contracts with the County of Burlington for our Main Unit, Supervisors Unit, Prosecutor's Office Clerical Unit, and Superintendent of Elections. 

We thank every member who voted. We thank every Steward who helped inform members about the agreement, helped members with voting, and brought new members into the Union. And we thank every member in advance for staying strong during negotiations. 

Below are complete results. 

Prosecutors Clerical Unit

Superintendent of Elections Unit

County Supervisors Unit

County Main Unit (non-supervisors)

Salary Charts

Members can use these salary charts to look up your salary, map out retroactive pay, and chart your salary after increases in 2017 and 2018.

Salary Chart - effective June 30, 2015 through August 14, 2017

Salary Chart - effective August 15, 2017 through June 30, 2018

Salary Chart - effective July 1, 2018

Health Benefits Calculators

Members can look up the cost of their health insurance plan and calculate their chapter 78 employee contributions based on salary.

Health Benefits Rates (2018)

Health Benefits Employee Contribution Chart

CWA members approved the new State Executive Branch Contract by a wide margin. 

This is a huge victory for CWA members who worked three long years to secure a better contract, enforce our prior contract language, and reach a fair agreement with the State. 

Contract implementation and payroll issues will be discussed in the coming weeks at work site meetings and membership updates. 

We thank every member who voted. We thank every Steward who helped inform members, worked at the polling locations, and brought new members into the Union. And we thank every member in advance for staying strong and staying motivated as we prepare for bargaining the next contract.  

Over 70% of members voted.

Below are complete results compiled from all Locals. 

Administrative-Clerical Unit

Professional Unit

Primary Level Supervisors Unit

Higher Level Supervisors Unit

(View/Download the Summary of the Tentative Agreement) [PDF]