New Site Going Live

Posted on | October 29, 2011 | Comments Off

We are excited to bring you a NEW VERSION of our PEA website starting next week!  You are going to love the new changes, so please check back and let us know what you think!

Christie Losing Support With Cuts

Posted on | July 10, 2011 | Comments Off

Governor Chris Christie is losing support for a 2nd term according to a Bloomberg News report, citing disapproval of his choices on a range of policy and personal issues.  Check out the article here.

NJEA Response to Pension / Benefits Bill

Posted on | June 28, 2011 | Comments Off

NJEA president Barbara Keshishian issued this statement following Governor Chris Christie’s signing of legislation that diminishes collective bargaining for public employees and reduces pensions for current and future retirees.  The link also includes information on how the bill will affect you and additional resources.

How Much is Norcross Involved?

Posted on | June 27, 2011 | Comments Off

Brian Donohoe from the Star Ledger reports on how involved and powerful George Norcross is in the legislation that has cost YOU a significant amount of money in your pensions and forcing you to pay THOUSANDS more for your benefits:

How the Democratic Assembly Voted

Posted on | June 26, 2011 | Comments Off

CLICK HERE to see which Democratic leaders in our Assembly voted “NO” to help protect the middle class workers of NJ and all of our PEA Members.  Be sure to thank them for their support and let them know that you will remember in November!

A Letter From Barbara Keshishian

Posted on | June 24, 2011 | Comments Off

PEA President Jim Boice received this letter from NJEA President Barbara Keshishian regarding the Pension / Benefits vote yesterday:

We all greeted yesterday’s vote in the Assembly with a common mix of disappointment and anger. Despite an absolutely Herculean effort by our members — thousands of whom spent hours in the streets outside the Statehouse expressing their collective outrage — the Assembly did the wrong thing.

NJEA and all of the other public employee unions were simply unable to convince a majority of Assembly members that stripping our collective bargaining rights and unilaterally imposing thousands of dollars in new pension and health care payments on our members was wrong.

While the outcome was not what we wanted, it in no way diminishes the efforts of our members, staff, and local and county leaders. You organized and mobilized over the last two weeks at a level that was simply amazing. No one could ask more of you — and we both want you to know how proud and thankful we are.

We all live in a treacherous and poisonous political landscape. Unfortunately, yesterday’s defeat was not the end.

As we write, forces are gathering to impose test score-based evaluation, and push for legislation to create private school vouchers, eliminate your tenure and seniority rights, impose merit pay, and further diminish your professional rights.

We must regroup and move ahead. Or as the saying goes: “Don’t mourn. Organize!” We simply have no choice. Powerful, monied interests — including hedge-fund operators who see education as a for-profit opportunity — are setting their sights on New Jersey. We owe it to our students, their parents, and the future of this state to fight these interests, and to tell them New Jersey’s public schools are not for sale.

We also must reassess the political landscape, because too many of our former allies turned their backs on us yesterday. We must thank those who stood by us — and 32 members of the Assembly and 16 members of the Senate did just that — because the pressure on them to fall in line was enormous.

Please know we share in your disappointment. And please also know that as soon as Governor Christie signs this legislation, we intend to file a lawsuit challenging portions we believe to be illegal — including the elimination of cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirees.

Take some well-deserved time to rest and recover from the bruising events of the past several weeks. And then be ready to organize and work like never before to turn back this unwarranted and unwelcome assault on public education.

Again, thank you all for all that you do and will continue to do on behalf of your students and your colleagues. We didn’t choose this fight; it chose us. We will never back down, and we will never retreat. We will simply regroup, rethink some approaches, and head back into the fray.

The Battle for Trenton 2.0!!!

Posted on | June 19, 2011 | Comments Off

This is ROUND 2!!!  On this date, the Senate will vote!  Caucus is set for 11 AM and the Vote at 1 PM.  State-wide media will be present. YOU MUST BE HERE TO STOP THIS FAST-TRACKED LEGISLATION!  Stand up for what’s right!  Come out with your friends, family members and co-workers in order to convince the Legislature that WE MATTER!

Wondering where to park?  All cars and school buses should plan to park in the Trenton Thunder stadium (1 Thunder Road; Trenton, NJ 08611).  Shuttles will be available to bring you to State Street.  Plan to arrive early!

Beginning at 10:00 AM, join the demonstrations, picketing, speeches, and street activity outside of State House.

• Union leaders from around the country will join the demonstration
• Bring noisemakers to let the legislators know that you are there
• 12:30 – ?:  Events of the day will dictate how long we’ll continue our demonstrations outside the State House.  NOTE:  THIS RALLY IS PREDICTED TO BE LONGER THAN THE 6/17 RALLY! Remember, the proposed pension and health benefit legislation will have a devastating effect on every current, retired, and future public employee in New Jersey.  A FEW HOURS OF YOUR TIME IS WELL WORTH GIVING TO SAVE YOUR FUTURE!
• Bring a chair, some water, and prepare to spend the day with your union brothers and sisters

Make your voice heard!  See you in Trenton on Monday!

Rally in Woodbury This Saturday!!!

Posted on | June 16, 2011 | Comments Off

Please plan to take part in the latest action to protect our health benefits and pensions!  We will be meeting on Broad Street in the center of Woodbury from 12 Noon – 1 PM THIS SATURDAY!   STAND UP FOR YOUR PENSIONS AND BENEFITS!  THIS BILL WILL COST YOU $6,000 A YEAR IF IT GOES THROUGH, AND IT IS ON THE FAST-TRACK!  MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD AT THE RALLY!

NJEA Responds to Proposed Legislation

Posted on | June 15, 2011 | Comments Off

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian responded in an Op-Ed piece in the Star Ledger asking for transparency in the proposed bills, referencing how Senator Norcross could benefit in his role as an insurance broker for many school districts.  After Senator Norcross issued a scathing attack on US in his response, NJEA President Keshishian responded by reiterating her call for insight into the role of Senator Norcross in this proposed legislation.

ACT NOW – Benefits “Deal” Will Cost YOU!

Posted on | June 10, 2011 | Comments Off

Can YOU afford to LOSE THOUSANDS of dollars next year!?!?

From NJ.com

Under the deal, most public workers would immediately pay an additional 1 percent of their salaries for their pensions, while police and firefighters would pay an additional 1.5 percent. The state would pledge to increase its pension contributions to legally required levels.  “Workers would pay up to 30 percent of their health care premiums after a four-year period. But unlike Gov. Chris Christie’s original proposal, the payments would be tiered based on income, so employees with lower salaries pay less.”

From MyCentralJersey.com

Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver has released the following statement on the proposed pension and health benefit deal: “I continue to believe that we need health benefits reform to protect taxpayers, but I have maintained all along that there needed to be significant support in my caucus to move forward. We are not there yet.   My caucus must have the chance to have their concerns considered. The voters who elected them deserve no less. I look forward to continued discussions with the Governor and Senate president to reach a timely agreement.”

From NJEA.org

NJEA President Barbara Keshishian issued the following statement in response to the pension and health benefit proposal released today by Governor Christie and Senate President Sweeney:

“If you are a teacher in New Jersey, the message from Chris Christie and Steve Sweeney is chilling: ‘Don’t expect a raise.  In fact, next year, we’re going to pay you less, and your compensation will drop year after year.’ At a time when Governor Christie is giving away billions of dollars in tax relief and tax breaks to millionaires and corporations, he is deliberately degrading the teaching profession in New Jersey.  This proposal totally circumvents the collective bargaining process, and would cost the average teacher thousands of dollars in take-home pay for diminished pensions and health benefits.  When he ran for governor, Chris Christie told teachers and school employees, and I quote: ‘I will protect your pensions.  Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor.’”

“Chris Christie lied, and Steve Sweeney is now standing alongside him in this attack on the people who make our public schools among the best in America.  There is nothing in this proposal that seeks to control the cost of health insurance premiums to our school districts.  Where is the demand for transparency and open bidding of health insurance contracts?  Where is the demand to expose the obscene brokers’ fees that are being paid in so many of our municipalities?  Who are the middlemen collecting these fees, and what relationship do they have to the governor and the Senate president? We saw what happened in Wisconsin, when Christie’s friend Scott Walker attacked the collective bargaining rights of workers.  Now, it’s happening here, and it’s unthinkable that Steve Sweeney would urge his fellow Democrats to abandon working people by denying them a voice in negotiating their compensation and their rights.”

“We are outraged at this attack on the teachers and school employees and other middle class working families in New Jersey by the governor and his ally across the aisle.”

PEA Members – ACT NOW to Protect YOUR Benefits!!!

CALL YOUR GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEMBERS and STATE SENATORS!
Go Here and find your elected officials.  Click on each to name to get their contact info.

STAFFER: Hello, Assemblyperson ____________’s Office.

YOU: I’d like to leave a message for ____________.

STAFFER: OK.  Go ahead.

YOU: As a registered voter within this Legislative District, I am calling to urge ____________ to stand against the Sweeney / Christie deal that would weaken public workers pensions and benefits.  I hope that ____________ is aware that no public employee makes as much as their private sector counterparts when you compare them at equal levels of education, and the studies that document this do factor in the benefits [Go here].  I sincerely hope that ____________ will not support this Bill as it will weaken our schools and cost teachers thousands of dollars a year.  I will be watching the votes on this Bill closely, and if ____________ supports it, then I will not support him/her in the next election.

STAFFER: Thank you.  Would you like to leave your name and town?

YOU: (THIS IS OPTIONAL)  If you do not live in NJ, say “Pennsauken.”

If you do not live in NJ, call Pamela Lampitt:

ASSEMBLYWOMAN Pamela R. Lampitt, D
1101 Laurel Oak Rd.; Suite 150
Voorhees, NJ  08043
Phone:  856-435-1247
Fax:  856-435-3849

DO NOT EMAIL PAMELA LAMPITT! SHE HAS REPEATEDLY ADMITTED THAT SHE DELETES EMAILS WITHOUT READING THEM!