New Jersey CWAers Ready to Fight for a Governor Who Will Stand with Workers

On January 30th CWA rallied and helped launch a massive coalition in New Jersey made up of labor and community groups standing together to defend against attacks on workers and our communities, and demand that candidates for NJ Governor do the same.

With NJ’s next Gubernatorial election coming up this year, the coalition is demanding that all Democratic and Republican candidates sign a “Build and Defend New Jersey” pledge, stating that they will “protect access to the ballot, usher in reforms, stop MAGA attacks on our communities, and be fully committed to the progressive gains we have made in the Garden State over the past seven years.”

Stephen Johnson, CWA Local 1084 President, representing hundreds of employees who administer public assistance for multiple programs, including SNAP and Medicaid benefits., spoke at the rally about the danger of an impending crisis, emphasizing that the stakes have never been higher.

“In New Jersey, we need [a governor] with a strong commitment to protect our workers, the people we serve and our community,” he said. “We are determined to only back candidates who use their elected office to improve working people’s lives.

The “Build and Defend New Jersey” pledge specifically calls for candidates to:

• Lead actions that both fight cuts in federal funding and create solutions and state-level policy to ensure the continuity of programs and expansion of critical assistance for housing, child-care, food, health care and human needs. Support a state budget that maintains funding for state and local public services, education, transportation and that will, in the event of federal cuts, protect safety net programs by eliminating tax giveaways, and capturing revenues from lowered rates to the wealthy and/or corporations
• Protect democracy in New Jersey, support more inclusive and expanded voting rights, ballot access, the fairness of the ballot including elimination of the county line, and that strengthens public access to public records and information
• Support progressive tax policies that promote equity and support our state’s fiscal health, expand tax credits for low-income and working families. Oppose tax cuts for the wealthiest households and corporations that deepen income inequality and concentrate wealth to the top
• Actively promote state protections from attacks on immigrants. Defend equal protection for all people including sexual orientation, gender, race and all protected classes
• Fight back against the dismantling of regulations that protect the environment, unions, workers, and consumer rights and prevent price gouging

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Read more about the coalition here.