NJ state workers to receive raises under $120M deal reached with Gov. Phil Murphy

Gov. Phil Murphy has reached a tentative deal with the largest state employee union to offer annual 2-percent raises to its roughly 32,000 workers.

The deal with the Communications Workers of America is projected to add $120 million to the payroll over four years and includes an estimated $70 million in savings in the coming fiscal year from negotiated changes to health care benefits, according to an announcement from the governor’s office.

The contract, which covers the period from July 2019 through June 2023, must still be ratified by union members. The governor’s office said the state’s new cost of $20 million for the coming fiscal year was included in the $38.6 billion budget proposal that Murphy unveiled Tuesday.

The agreement is expected to be ratified by CWA members later this month. The terms of the contract would then serve as a benchmark for other negotiations between bargaining units and governments across the state.

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Murphy’s approach to negotiations with public workers is a marked departure from that of his Republican predecessor, Chris Christie, who vilified unions and frequently saw contract talks devolve into litigation. 

One of the Murphy administration’s earliest actions, last spring, was to finalize a contract with CWA dating back to 2015 that restored the longevity pay bumps that Christie had frozen. That deal cost $149 million. 

“From Day One,  I’ve promised that we’d build a stronger and fairer economy by negotiating in good faith with our workforce,” Murphy said in a statement Thursday. “Our tentative contract agreement provides fair wages, allows for CWA members to enter a new health care plan that generates significant savings for the state of New Jersey and taxpayers, and provides a fair premium share for members.”

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He added: “Together, we’re turning the page from the failed approaches of the past toward a new chapter of mutual respect and dialogue with our workforce.”

According to details of the agreement provided by the governor’s office and posted on the CWA’s website, workers would get across-the-board, 2-percent raises on Oct. 1, 2019; July 1, 2020; July 1, 2021; and April 1, 2022. 

The so-called step increases for achieving service milestones would continue under the contract and after it expires if a new contract is not finalized by then. Employees who have reached the top of the step schedule will instead receive up to two cash bonuses of $750 or $1,000.

The $70 million in savings in the coming fiscal year, which begins July 1, would come from offering a new preferred provider organization plan to workers and creating ombudsperson positions to help employees select and use their insurance.

Email: pugliese@northjersey.com