As reported by nj.com, after asserting for months that state employee health benefits will be overhauled through legislation, Governor Chris Christie’s office is now seeking the changes through collective bargaining with the state’s largest employee union.

“He’s out of his cage!” read a memo to Communications Workers of America members obtained by the Star-Ledger, joking about Christie’s comments in March that he was looking forward to collective bargaining. “Let me at them,” Christie said at the time, showing his willingness to go out and negotiate. “Get me out of the cage and let me go.”

At a Statehouse news conference Thursday, Christie called the offer to unions a “good faith effort” but reiterated his desire to have the Legislature pass a bill and force the unions to accept his plan to make them pay 30 percent of the cost of health benefits. “We can chew gum and walk at the same time,” Christie said.

Hetty Rosenstein, the state director for the CWA, said she is optimistic moving forward. “We hope that we can begin to engage in serious negotiations with the governor,” Rosenstein said.

The governor’s initial offer to employees at the bargaining table was nearly identical to the proposal he sent to the Legislature-having workers pay 30 percent of the cost of their insurance premiums, according to the memo. In addition, the administration could increase co-pays for the duration of the four-year contract.

The offer came during the seventh meeting between the CWA and the governor’s office to negotiate a new contract for the 40,000 employees the union represents. The current contract expires on June 30.

“The Senate president has said all along that he believes the governor should at least hear the unions out at the table, so he is very happy with the administration’s action,” said Chris Donnelly, a Senate Democratic spokesman.

Jeff Keefe, a labor professor at Rutgers University, said Christie was probably trying to short-circuit the unfair practice charge recently filed against him by the CWA, since efforts to legislate benefit changes could be halted if PERC sided with the union. “I don’t think they’re going to have any meaningful give and take at the bargaining table,” Keefe said. “He wants to avoid having PERC rule against him. That would throw the whole budget situation up in the air.”

Tags: Articles, Christie, collective bargaining, CWA, Governor Christie, health benefits, Health Benefits Reform
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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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