CWA Members, Legislators Forge Alliance on Healthcare Affordability in New Jersey

Over the past several weeks, CWA members and leaders representing multiple locals including Locals 1032, 1036, and 1037, have met with a dozen lawmakers and candidates for office at two Breakfast Forum events to discuss the ongoing healthcare affordability crisis hitting New Jersey — particularly CWA’s 40,000+ members who work in State and local government.

At each event, workers shared personal stories of how skyrocketing healthcare costs are affecting their families, their coworkers, and hurting public services.

“Premiums under the State Health Benefits Plan have gone up over 112% in just five years. I now pay over $600 a month—more than 10% of my salary before taxes,” said Bjana Swinson, social worker and a CWA Local 1036 Shop Steward. “Our hard-fought raises were nearly wiped out by these hikes. Many of my full-time colleagues qualify for the public assistance programs we administer because their take-home pay is so low after healthcare deductions.”

CWA has been making a strong push for solutions both at the bargaining table and through legislation, and while we’ve had strong success at mitigating the impacts of rising costs for State workers through bargaining for State workers, more work is needed to ease the burden on local government workers, and to put a stop to these catastrophic increases overall year after year.

Members at the forums conveyed to legislators the need for collaborative work on this issue, and the solution is a fundamental choice: continue “cost-shifting” onto employees through higher deductibles and co-pays, or pursue genuine “cost reduction” by addressing the root causes of high prices.

In particular, we’re advocating for bill A5903 to implement systemic reforms, including cost controls and increased price transparency to spur competition and hold carriers and providers accountable.

Legislators and legislative candidates who attended the forums offered some of their own personal stories of struggles with healthcare costs, and pledged to work with us to get to a solution.

“I stand firmly with [CWA] in this fight,” said Assemblymember Carol Murphy, Chair of the Assembly Health Committee. “No worker should see their hard-earned raises wiped out by skyrocketing premiums or have to worry about affording care for their families. That’s why I fully support legislation to bring greater transparency and cost controls to our healthcare system.”