[Washington, D.C.] August 10, 2021 – Investment in our nation’s infrastructure is long overdue, and passage of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) represents an important step in the right direction.

We appreciate President Biden’s leadership, along with the bipartisan coalition that negotiated the framework for IIJA. IIJA provides important investment in many infrastructure priorities including roads and bridges, rail, transit, ports, airports, the electric grid, water systems, and broadband. The IIJA provides an investment of $1.2 trillion, including $550 billion in new spending over five years.

BAC President Tim Driscoll said, “BAC has long supported comprehensive investment in our nation’s infrastructure, broadly defined. While IIJA represents a good start, we must continue to work to make sure that other vital infrastructure needs are not neglected. Investment in our infrastructure including schools, housing, hospitals, public safety and other government buildings is critically important. We must do everything we can to make sure that these priorities are addressed as Congress turns to the Budget Reconciliation process.”

Dear John —

New Jersey Labor Movement Mourns Richard Trumka“The entire American labor movement has lost a champion and a fighter, and New Jersey has lost a close friend,” New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said of the unexpected passing of AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka. President Trumka died on Thursday, August 5, 2021, surrounded by his family. He was 72. “Rich Trumka had a deep love for New Jersey’s workers and a deep appreciation for our state’s labor movement,” President Wowkanech continued. “He supported our 1 million members in every way possible, just as he supported every single worker in every sector of labor nationwide, from teachers to construction workers to transit workers to nurses and beyond.” “Rich Trumka was a force of nature,” New Jersey State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Laurel Brennan said. “He devoted his life to ensuring that every man and woman could have what he believed in most – a good union contract with fair wages and a voice in the workplace.”   “Whether it was his concern for the safety and health of frontline workers during the pandemic or fighting for the right to organize, President Trumka put working men and women first,” President Wowkanech said. “He has inspired us since his days as president of the United Mine Workers of America. We will miss his leadership as the voice of America’s labor movement, and we pledge to carry on in his footsteps.”

BY KATHERINE LANDERGAN | 07/08/2021 12:38 PM EDT

Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday signed into law a package of bills his office says will further New Jersey’s efforts to stop employee misclassification.

Background: Misclassification is the practice of improperly classifying an employee as an independent contractor, which the governor’s office said prevents workers from being guaranteed things like overtime, worker’s compensation and disability.

Clamping down on misclassification has been a top priority of the Murphy administration. For example, in a 2018 audit, the state Department of Labor found more than 12,300 cases of workers being misclassified.

What the bills do: Murphy signed four bills: NJ A5890 (20R), NJ A5891 (20R), NJ A5892 (20R) and NJ A1171 (20R). Under the new laws, an Office of Strategic Enforcement and Compliance will be created within the Department of Labor that will track payroll projects to better identify employee misclassification.

The governor’s office said the bills also simplify the process for identifying misclassified workers and implementing stop-work orders at sites where misclassification has occurred.

What they are saying: The New Jersey Business & Industry Association says it is particularly concerned that one of the news laws, A5890, will allow for “overbroad enforcement by the state Labor Commissioner with little oversight or control by the courts.”

“We recognize the need for the state to enforce misclassification law against truly bad actors,” said Ray Cantor, vice president of government affairs for the association. “But businesses have legitimately relied on independent contractors for decades for everything from cleaning office buildings to hauling goods across the country. These bills will have a chilling effect on those businesses who do their level best to comply with the law.

Senate Labor Chair Fred Madden (D-Gloucester) said misclassification is a growing issue in New Jersey.

“It may sound like a simple bureaucratic problem, but it is far more onerous: Misclassification results in hard-working New Jerseyans being denied basic benefits such as overtime, medical leave, unemployment insurance, and safe workplaces, and their unscrupulous employers benefit,” Madden said in a statement. “I’m confident this package of bills will go far in eradicating this practice and ensuring that our workers are treated fairly.”

This Memorial Day, as we remember the heroic men and women who gave their lives defending our freedom, the best way we can honor their bravery is to protect and care for Gold Star families and every other American they left behind.

Just like our deceased warriors, we must protect democracy by ensuring every eligible citizen has equal, easy access to the voting booth. We must protect working families who created the middle class by ensuring that wages and benefits are fair and that workplaces are safe and free from illness and injury. We must protect the right of workers to have a say in their employment conditions by passing the Protecting the Right to Organize Act.

This Memorial Day, as we finally enjoy the start of a summer with fewer COVID-related restrictions, we must pause and thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us, and then get to work preserving and improving our American way of life for those fortunate enough to come home.

In Unity,

The Raymond A. Peterson Scholarship Application Form

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The 1 million members of the New Jersey labor movement are thrilled to congratulate our Union Brother Marty Walsh on his confirmation as secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Senate voted 68-29 on March 22, 2021.

“Our Brother Marty Walsh – a second-generation dues-paying member of LIUNA – is a man who knows the value of work,” New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech said. “The Department of Labor is now being led by a man who has remembered his rank-and-file roots in every position he’s held.”

Former Boston Mayor Walsh, who worked his way from laborer to union leader to political force, always stayed close to the people of the working-class neighborhood where he grew up. As mayor of a large, diverse city with workers in every sector of our labor movement, he devoted his career to the growth of the middle class.

His appointment to the Labor Department, where he will enforce laws and regulations that protect workers and ensure safe and healthy workplaces, is proof that President Joe Biden’s administration is pro-union and pro-worker.

“We see rays of hope with someone as knowledgeable as Marty Walsh at the helm of the Labor Department,” President Wowkanech said. “President Biden’s selection of Secretary Walsh shows he is sincere in his commitment to our nation’s workers, and we are deeply grateful to the president.”

In Unity,

Charles Wowkanech President	Laurel Brennan Secretary-Treasurer

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO thanks Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19) for posting three pro-labor bills today and thanks all the legislators who voted in favor of these pieces of legislation.  All three bill have already passed the State Senate and are now on Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk for consideration.

“Buy American” legislation (A-5064: Verrelli / Giblin).  The bill passed unanimously. The bill requires the use of American-manufactured steel and iron in public road and bridge construction. If signed, the law will take a big step forward in creating manufacturing jobs throughout the nation.  The Steelworkers Union was a strong proponent of the measure and we thank the prime sponsors – both union leaders – for their advocacy.

A-5376/S-3414 (DeAngelo / Egan) expands the permissible use of project labor agreements to additional construction projects and also promotes workforce diversity.  The bill passed by a vote of 59-11-3.  We thank the prime sponsors, both of whom are local union leaders, for their advocacy.

Please CLICK HERE to see the full roll call of the vote

A-2487 (Quijano / Benson): The “Healthy Terminals Act,” advocated for by SEIU 32BJ, UNITE HERE and RWDSU, would require certain airport and train station workers to be paid increased wages and benefits. The bill passed by a vote of 47-25-0.

Please CLICK HERE to see the full roll call of the vote

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO thanks all the affiliated unions that worked tirelessly to advance these bills and we respectfully ask for Governor Murphy’s support in enacting them into law.

In Unity,

BAC U.S. Members:

BAC annually awards three scholarships to students whose parents or step-parents are U.S. BAC members. The stipends are $5,000 per year for up to four years – up to $20,000 total.

To be eligible for the scholarship, students must:

• – Be a senior in high school
• – Plan to enter college in the fall of 2021
• – Be the child or stepchild of a U.S. member in good standing of a BAC Local

The U.S. Bates Scholarship program is administered through International Scholarship and Tuition Services (ISTS).  

The application deadline is March 31, 2021. ISTS will notify all applicants of the selection results in June 2021.

To access the online application, please visit https://aim.applyists.net/IUBAC. Please click here to view a list of frequently asked questions about the scholarship.

Questions? Call or email the BAC Education Department at 1-888-880-8222 ext. 3887 or [email protected].

Released on February 3, 2021 on njaflcio.org

With the expected re-introduction in Congress of the Protecting the Right to Organize Act on Thursday, February 4 – the PRO Act – America’s workers will begin their campaign to achieve the meaningful federal labor law reforms they have been seeking for decades. The PRO Act, which was blocked by the previous anti-worker Senate, will give everyone the right to organize and bargain collectively for better wages, benefits and workplace conditions through a good union contract.

Once the PRO Act is passed, key provisions of the legislation will give working men and women the ability to reach a first contract after organizing, repeal so-called “right-to-work” laws that lead to lower wages, ban the hiring of permanent replacement workers to punish striking employees, and strengthen the National Labor Relations Board, which became the lapdog of big business under the previous administration.

Two-thirds of Americans favor labor unions, and half of America’s workers in every sector of labor would join a union if they could. The PRO Act will give America’s working men and women a real say in their futures. We need the PRO Act.

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO urges the House and Senate to pass the PRO Act quickly in a bipartisan manner. 

New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech

and Secretary-Treasurer Laurel Brennan

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