Lakewood’s Unionized Officers To Join State PBA And FMBA In Trenton Rally

lakewood pd pbaTomorrow, Lakewood’s Police Union will join the N. J. State P.B.A., and FMBA in a rally tomorrow to take a stand on public safety and demonstrate against the Governor’s Pension Reform, TLS has learned. The following is a statement released by the State PBA, one of the organizers of the event, who represent 350 local PBAs:  

“On the political front, Governor Christie continues to preach that he has no problem with the “rank-and-file” members while at the same time he proposes legislation that denies those same rank-and-file members their collective bargaining rights, violates their contracts, and reduces pension benefits that they have faithfully paid for during their careers”.

“Unfortunately, the Democratic majority, with only a few exceptions, has apparently forgotten their core values and has been ineffective in bringing some order and common sense to the table”.

“Incredibly, some elected officials in the Legislature have told State PBA leaders that our members have no problem with these changes.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Our members are keenly aware that there is a need for real reform in our pension and benefit system but they are very disappointed that the Governor has chosen to attack them and ignore the real culprits corrupting our systems”.

“The Governor’s policies and statements are reckless and irresponsible and have resulted in higher crime, higher taxes, and a very dangerous work environment for public safety officials.  Our members are angry and they are looking for a way to let our legislators know that Enough is Enough!”

Organizers are expecting thousands to attend the rally which will be taking place at the State Capitol. TLS.

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27 COMMENTS

  1. Shame on them!! You guys look very silly!! There is over 9% unemployment in NJ… The average yearly salary for the officers in the Lakewood PD is well over $100,000…. You can go demonstrate but you are just going to lose more respect…. We the people are NOT behind you!!

  2. I’d like to see #1 go out and do the job these men and women do on a daily basis, and commit to doing it for at least 25 years of their life. If your employer told you they were changing your benefits (that you fought for and were promised) only years before you were due to retire, wouldn’t you protest too? Not only that, but to vilify and scapegoat them to the public?

    More power to them!

  3. “All that serves labor serves the nation. All that harms is treason. If a man tells you he trusts America, yet fears labor, he is a fool. There is no America without labor, and to fleece the one is to rob the other.” -Abraham Lincoln

    “The labor movement means just this: It is the last noble protest of the American people against the power of incorporated wealth.” -Wendell Phillips

  4. Hey #3 guess who the employer is….. That’s correct me and all the other taxpaying citizens…. Now what happens when 9% of your employers lose their jobs, get foreclosed on and don’t have any more money to keep the promises someone made to you? I’ll tell you first they try renegotiating with you and if they aren’t successful they send out the pink slips…. which do you prefer??

  5. In the private sector, everyone is cutting benefits, pensions, wages, and some people are actually losing their jobs, their homes, their entire life-savings. Yet these same people are expected (as taxpayers) to pay for the public sector’s bloated pay, pensions, benefits, etc etc etc.

    The people are NOT behind the unions.

  6. #5- This isn’t about renegotiating, that’s being done every day by the local govt’s and their employees. From what I see most of the employees have no problem with that. This is being forced down their throats by the state gov’t- the only voice they have in this fight is to protest. Even if it makes no difference why should they be expected to take it without speaking up?

    Check the facts, the pensions would have been FULLY FUNDED had the politicians not taken the funds over the past few decades in order to give tax breaks to others, then choosing not to make required payments. If a private sector employer did that they’d end up in jail. I’m not saying the current economy doesn’t require concessions, but let’s get the story straight on why we are in this mess. and remember that the teachers, cops and firefighters are not living in huge mansions driving luxury cars and yachts (like Wall St) but are your neighbors. Show me where the “bloated” salaries are.

    For the record, I am not a union member or public servant. I work in the private sector and have a meager 401k that doesn’t get matched anymore. That doesn’t mean I wish ill on my neighbors who work for the public and are being thrown under the bus by greedy politicians and the corporations who support them.

  7. #9 Even if you are correct about the pension funds. We got to deal with the facts as they present themselves today….. We don’t have the money to keep the promises made by people who knew they wouldn’t be able to keep it…

    Think about this…. The public unions collect dues….. turn around and contribute/endorse politicians…… turn around and negotiate salaries and benefits with the unions…. turn around and collect dues…. THAT’S THE WAY IT WAS…….. NOT WITH THIS ADMINISTRATION

  8. while i respect police officers for the selfless job that is done by officers, and other union employees, but i must say that the state is bloated with people that are screaming “I WANT MORE” & “BUT YOU SAID YOU WOULD GIVE ME IF I” and other childish (moderated). NJ officers are the highest paid officers in the country(thats a fact just published). NJ officers dont face any different of crime and or criminal than officers in the south and elsewhere, while those officers get often 50% less pay.

    NJ cant support this type of employment. WHAT DONT UNION MEMBERS UNDERSTAND? Yes it could go on for another 5-10years with serious tax increases, but that would bankrupt the state. Sometimes contracts are broken, promises are modified or nullified, and thats life. Union members dont seem to care. but what will happen when they dont get the pension check they “rallied” for?

    YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS: TAKE THE PAY CUTS, NO RAISES, AND PAY MORE INTO YOUR MEDICAL, (or) NOT RECEIVE A PENSION CHECK IN 5-10YRS (due to pension bankruptcy)

    [by the way, the way those SCAT bus drivers did a “sick-out”, only solidified my prediction regarding the way the big snowfall was handled with a “slow-down” work ethic by the union plows.]

  9. Yes, I see your argument but it works both ways. No millionaire’s tax and tax breaks for big business- those who benefit from that will pump money into this administration instead. It’s all the same on both sides of the aisle.

    The unions are the enemy of the republicans because they are typically aligned with the democrats. So if the republicans vilify the unions, they will lose power- which in turn strips power and money from the democrats… republicans and their friends win. The only people who are losing right now are the middle class, union or not.

  10. Well said number 9, you are so right in everything you said what a shame people can’t just get it. Shame on NJ for borrowing and promising to pay it back then when you don’t say union workers pay for what we borrowed. Most cops teachers and firefighters have two incomes (the spouse) to maintain there small homes and average cars.

  11. So you are going to tell me that just the police , ems, firefighters and teachers caused this fiasco? If you believe that for one second you are a fool. THe politicians in NJ STOLE form the public pension and NEVER paid it back. If that happened in the private sector , someone would be in jail. And secondly, I’m sorry that some of you chose to work in the private sector, but no one in the private sector gave two licks about the public worker when they were making big bucks. They could have cared less. They weren’t banging on city hall’s doors saying , “Please pay our public workers more”, were they? And what everyone forgets is that public workers are TAXPAYERS too. What you people really need to start looking at are the politicians , judges and the workers high up in the state. They are the fat, many collecting double and triple pensions and not even working 25. Did you know a superior court judge can collect a full pension after working for 5 years? Now at the top, is where we need to make cuts.

  12. Yup….. the cuts are going to be for EVERYONE. At the top and the bottom. There is simply no more money left.

    And by the way, in addition to blaming the past politicians for stealing the pension funds, we should also blame the past politicians for actually promising pensions to all public workers. Because those promises were unsustainable and will now be broken.

    I actually understand why those past politicians promised public sector workers full pensions. Because the unions protested, and everyone felt bad for them.

    I also understand why the past polticians stole the money from the pension funds. Because they had to fund all their other programs and benefits and pet projects for the poor and seniors and minorities and environmental projects. And if they would have raisetaxes on the rich, the rich would have stopped employing the poor and middle class, which would have also been terrible. So those past politicians had just one choice…… “borrow” from the pensions.

    So now we are all suffering from past politicians’ mistakes. And thank G-d Christie won’t repeat those past mistakes.

    Because he will cut EVERYTHING.

    The people (who pay the salaries of the government workers) are with you Christie!

  13. I don’t get it.Where all the the union workers while the state was allegedly busy stealing from their pension funds?Why didn’t they protest then?

  14. for #18, They did but nobody cared at that time because the private sector was making the big bucks and there were other rebate programs going around “saving” tax money that were funded by the stolen pension funds. Like previously stated by someone else, nobody cared about the public workers when the private sector was booming but now everyone hates the public workers. Its not the rich upper class sacrificing anything either. Just the other day there was an article in the Asbury Park Press showing what the CEO of Whirlpool made last year. Guess what, he did not take a pay cut and in fact was payed more in 2010 then he was in 2009. Obviously companies are still making money it just does not get filtered down past all the higher ups in the company. Now I guess Christie wants you to believe the reason why the CEO is able to give himself a raise and not filter that money down is because of the police and firefighters who are out on the streets, right.

  15. I stand behind a persons right to either join or not join a union.
    Any politician would like unions to back and vote for them,,,but the problem is when that politician wins an election and then sits down with the unions to negotiate new pay and benefits packages.

    In the private sevtor, the company can only dole out so much to union negotiations- they have a bottom line- if they agree to to much of a benefits/salary package, the company goes belly up unless, the Govt comes along to bail that company out….then, the taxpayers get the bill…..cozy for the company and union, not for the ones paying the tag.

    Public service employees unions should not have collective bargaining privledges. I listed some of the reasons above.

    The public service unions demand more and more from the politicians and the bill payers, the TAXPAYER is left out of the bargaining talks. The taxpayer is constantly losing ground in the battle- especially when left out of the negotiations.

    The taxpayer- the real boss of the public servants has been stretched to the limits but their incomes are not strecthing any further.

    More and more tent cities are springing up all across America. Folks can’t pay higher and higher taxes, feed families , pay higher prices for necessities, utilities and rent or mortgages but the civil service unions want more, moRE, mORE, MORE.

    The public service unions are jumping up the wrong tree….you’re not battling a Governor, Mayor or town clerk- you’re fighting against the taxpayer.

    For the public servant that has , oh, say about ten years invested- perhaps there should be a grandfather clause for you but those with less then 10 years invested, well, to bad .

    Remember public servants- you can always find another job…there is someone waiting and willing to take your place.

    Be happy to have a job with benefits and retirement. Complaining , demonstrating idle threats show your ugly side and the taxpayer sees it well.

    The last election results should give you a clue….folks are tired of tax and spend politicians. Our pockets are only so deep.

    Most have nothing but lint to offer.

  16. # 18
    you want to know why the unions/ union workers didn’t say anything while the politicians dipped into the cookie jar?

    The worker most likely had no clue but the union bosses probably did but they did not care where the money came from…the ploy is, RAISE taxes.

    Make the rich pay more etc etc.

    I believe they knew this day was coming .

    the protest shine the light on certain groups of politicians and exposes them, while some claim they are for the little guy,,,, their backing the public service unions shows who they really are for….

  17. #18.First I find it hard to accept that the unions protested money being stolen from them but it was just ignored.They unions are not pushovers who would allow themselves to be ignored when they have a legitimite complaint.Second lets compare apples to apples.The salary of a CEO has little to do with the public vs. private debate because most public workers are not doing CEO type work.I don’t believe in trickle down economics either.

  18. #24 You are making it a public vs. private debate because that’s what the governor wants to happen. I believe what Shmulie was saying about the CEO was about the state of the economy. The politicians want you to believe the recession is kicking yet the higher ups in the companies don’t seem to feel it. They are giving themselves raises while the lower middle class workers get nothing. Shared sacrifice for every one except the higher ups.

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