August 14, 2015
By Steve Wishnia and Neal Tepel
Four more New Jersey public-employee unions have joined a lawsuit trying to reverse Gov. Chris Christie’s cancellation of scheduled raises for state workers. A state Superior Court judge granted the four—the New Jersey Communications Workers of America, New Jersey Superior Officers Association, Fraternal Order of Police Local 174, and the Law Enforcement Unit—permission to add themselves to the suit, which was filed last month by two law-enforcement unions.
The governor's Office of Employee Relations suspended “step increases”—raises automatically given to workers for length of service on the job—just before state workers’ contracts expired June 30. The unions’ lawsuit argues that only the state Civil Service Commission can change compensation, and that Christie's suspending step increases was “nothing more than a political coercion.” Read more
