As reported by nj.com, days before the governor’s office and the state’s largest public employees union are scheduled to sit down for the first time, lawmakers are receiving letters warning of dire results that could come from changing employee benefits through law.

A letter, cosigned by 48 labor attorneys, claims that if lawmakers move forward on Governor Chris Christie’s plan to force employees to pay 30 percent of the health costs, it would eliminate any future ability to negotiate on the subject. It is the latest in a brewing war between Christie and the state’s public employee unions over their benefits and whether they should be changed through legislation. 

“We want decision makers in Trenton to understand that we have a well-established legal right to negotiate over health benefits,” said Bob Masters, political director for the Communication Workers of America, which represents the majority of the state’s unionized employees.

Christie argues that since previous state employees received increases in benefits through legislation, there is nothing stopping him from reducing benefits through the same route. “They ought not complain when they have received benefits legislatively in the past,” Christie spokesman Kevin Roberts said.

The letters come in advance of a Friday meeting between the administration and the CWA. It will be the first meeting to discuss contracts that expire in June. The meeting will not include Christie, his spokesman Kevin Roberts said, but will be conducted by a representative of the administration. In previous contract negotiations, discussions between the administration and the unions began months earlier.

Christie has said he does not intend for health benefits to be a topic of this year’s negotiations. While the last contract, negotiated by former Gov. Jon Corzine, increased the cost of health benefits for employees, Christie says he will seek larger contributions and get them through law, not bargaining. Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney each have legislative proposals that would make state employees pay more for health insurance.   

The unions argue that historically only the pension benefits have been changed via legislation and that Sweeney’s bill, or any similar proposal, would strip them of bargaining rights they have previously been entitled to.

Tags: Articles, collective bargaining, CWA, Governor Christie, health benefits, Health Benefits Reform, increase in healthcare
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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