Legislation was introduced by NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney on May 16 called the Path to Progress (P2P) that threatens the pensions and health benefits of NJEA members and other public employees.

How will this affect you? It forces all public employees into a less expensive health care option, decreases current sick day payout rates, and removes our collective bargaining rights. For those with less than 5 years of service, it will increase the retirement age to 67, moves your pension into a hybrid plan, does not make a state contribution to your pension, and mandates pension calculations based on a cap of $40K as your max salary.

We are already taking home less pay year after year as a result of Chapter 78 and now Sweeney is at it again. We MUST stand together to demand an END to these proposals that will harm our profession and our schools. Join NJEA and the CWA for a rally in Trenton on June 13 at 10 AM to demand protection of our health benefits and pension.

If you need to take off work, you will need to use a personal day (and you should put this in NOW). We are asking you to join your colleagues and support our collective goals, in order to maximize our impact.

If we have enough interest, the WCEA in conjunction with the Hunterdon County Education Association will arrange a bus to Trenton. Otherwise, we encourage carpooling for anyone interested in attending.