Back in June 2009, Governor Jon Corzine hastily consented to a labor agreement with the state’s largest public employee union – the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Long story short, Corzine agreed to $40,000,000 in concessions overnight to avoid an embarrassing labor protest at his reelection rally with Vice President Joe Biden. That’s how the Governor’s office did business before Chris Christie!
We knew the CWA deal was a costly disaster at the time, and it keeps getting worse the more we learn about it. NBC New York reported today that the state is wasting $3 million on clothing allowances for employees who aren’t required to wear uniforms:
“In one example, 888 white-collar Transportation Department employees received the allowances in the 2011 fiscal year, yet only 49 were required to wear uniforms.
Boxer’s office has recommended that the state eliminate the clothing payments for employees who are not required to wear uniforms or other identifiable clothing, but did not recommend whether that be done through legislation or collective bargaining.
I’m not sure collective bargaining would help since that’s how NJ taxpayers got this raw deal in the first place. Naturally, the CWA doesn’t see what the huff is all about:
Hetty Rosenstein, the state director for the Communications Workers of America — the largest public workers union — called the report inaccurate and misleading.
According to Boxer’s office, New Jersey’s clothing allowance is far more generous than other states. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Maryland, Connecticut and California don’t provide clothing allowances greater than $175, according to collective bargaining agreements, and California will reimburse its employees up to $450 a year if the employee shows a receipt.”
Yes, Save Jerseyans, we’re still paying for the corruption of the Corzine years and, lest we forget, his dating relationship with deposed CWA leader Carla Katz…
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFjAuTYe-rs&feature=channel_video_title
