Calling it the 'Second Battle of Trenton,' the marchers hope to disrupt key votes on bills to cut pension, health benefits
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
TRENTON — Members of state public employee unions will imitate our forefathers on Monday by crossing the Delaware River and marching to the Statehouse in hopes of disrupting two key votes on legislation to scale back their pension and health benefits.
Dubbed The Second Battle of Trenton, the marchers, who could number in the thousands, will cross the Calhoun Street bridge led by a handful of Revolutionary War reenactors.
Another group of union demonstrators, led by bagpipers, will march from an area in front of the War Memorial Auditorium named Camp Collective Bargaining by the New Jersey Education Association up Barracks Street to the Statehouse.
The full Senate and the Assembly Budget Committee will both vote on the controversial legislation Monday. Gov. Chris Christie announced last Wednesday in a joint statement with state Assembly and Senate leadership that an agreement on the bill's provisions had been struck and that all public employees would contribute more to their pension and health benefits.
The real Battle of Trenton took place in 1776 when George Washington's Continental Army crossed the icy Delaware by boat to surprise their enemies in an attack executed the day after Christmas.
Some consider the battle a turning point in the war that motivated volunteer militias to fight longer and harder for the United States' freedom from Great Britain. Washington's troops captured 30 officers, 918 prisoners, 1,000 muskets and rifles, six cannons, six wagons and 40 horses from their enemy, according to the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry.
Previous coverage:
• NJEA plans to protest move to curtail N.J. worker benefits by marching across bridge
• Details of N.J. public worker pension and health benefits reform bill
