Recent deal has fractured long-standing coalitions within the state Democratic Party Watch video
N.J. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex), left, speaks with Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) in this 2010 file photo. The recent deal struck to cut public worker benefits has fractured long-standing coalitions within the state Democratic Party.TRENTON — Trenton’s streets were dark Wednesday night as union leader Hetty Rosenstein headed back to the Statehouse for yet another meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver.
With the door shut, they went toe-to-toe one last time over a plan to cut public worker benefits. Even though Gov. Chris Christie had already announced a deal with lawmakers, Oliver (D-Essex) was still holding out hope for a compromise with the union.
But the talks stalled. Rosenstein, state director for the Communications Workers of America, wanted details of a low-cost health plan written into the final bill instead of leaving it up to a new state panel composed of union workers and state managers, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations.
There was no deal, and Oliver was done talking. When Rosenstein left her office, Oliver was ready to push forward on the most controversial issue in Trenton — without the support of any union or the majority of her caucus.
Today that behind-the-scenes drama will play out in full public view as the 124-page pension and benefits bill is vetted by the Assembly Budget Committee. It will also put Oliver to the test as she confronts disgruntled members of her own party and the public employee unions that have helped keep Democrats in power.
Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union) blasted the bill as a betrayal of party principles, and unions have threatened to remember at the ballot box who crossed them.
Oliver said she’s unconcerned with any backlash and is focused on what she calls the big picture — the pleas of mayors grappling with bursting budgets and the widening hole in the state’s pension system.
"Leadership is having the courage to swim upstream when the current is going the other way," she said. "I know it’s the right thing to do."
The bill, which will also be voted on by the full Senate today, would force public workers to pay more of their salaries toward their pensions, which would no longer include cost-of-living adjustments. Retirement ages for new employees would be increased, and all public employees would pay more for their health benefits.
In response, unions say the bill restricts their collective bargaining rights, and they accuse politicians of unfairly blaming them for the state’s budget problems.
Overhauling pension and health benefits for public workers has been a signature issue for Christie. But in recent weeks the crucial players have been Oliver and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), the ironworker labor leader who has sought to curtail public employee benefits for years. With the normally bullish governor largely watching from the sidelines, Oliver and Sweeney went to work building support within their own party and trying to win over wary union leaders.
On June 13, Sweeney, the bill’s architect, headed to Atlantic City to meet with international and state union leaders at the Borgata hotel and casino. Democratic sources described the talks as initially productive but ultimately in vain. Sweeney later accused labor leaders of dishonesty in rejecting compromises.
"What they did to their membership is despicable," he said. "They lied to their members."
Oliver, who said she was able to win key changes to improve the bill for workers, kept negotiating through Wednesday.
At that point, Oliver said, the governor’s press release Wednesday night left enough breathing room for lawmakers to introduce Sweeney’s bill or another proposal in the Senate Budget Committee the next day.
Democrats were still hoping to stave off protests scheduled for Thursday, but the unions didn’t bite.
"I started out at 5 o’clock that morning and got home at 11 o’clock at night," Oliver said. "I was tired and went to bed."
Rosenstein later said Democrats never presented a deal worth accepting, and Thursday morning the Statehouse was flooded with thousands of union protesters denouncing Oliver and Sweeney.
Inside the Statehouse, Sweeney testified on the bill as public workers in the audience hissed. When he finished, he took a seat at the committee table and listened for hours as union leaders blasted him and the proposal.
"I knew they weren’t going to say nice things," Sweeney said later. "But I still owed them the respect of listening to them."
With the help of four Democrats, the committee passed the bill 9-4.
"He’s put his neck on the line," Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris) said of Sweeney. "It’s hard to tell people you have to take bad medicine."
Meanwhile, union members unloaded on Democrats, as well as Christie. Georgianna Gonzer of Stanhope, a 44-year worker at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, said Democrats "stabbed us in the back."
"Labor helped them get where they are," she said. "And instead they vote against us."
Despite union opposition, the bill is poised to pass the Assembly committee today. Some Democrats said they hope to reopen negotiations.
"It’s not over yet," Assemblyman Tom Giblin (D-Essex) said. "It’s a work in progress."
Still, party sources insist they have enough votes to send the bill to Christie’s desk. Democratic votes for the bill are expected to come primarily from those allied with South Jersey power broker George Norcross and Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo — the same two people credited with orchestrating the 2009 coup that brought Sweeney and Oliver to power in the Legislature.
"It’s all about who your political boss is versus what’s the right thing to do," said Bill Lavin, president of the state Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association.
Oliver rejected that notion, saying, "I’m not even going to entertain that discussion."
Unions are scheduling more protests this week as well. Lavin said his members will be at the Statehouse, but he wasn’t optimistic.
"There are some backroom negotiations and overtures being made," he said. "But at this point, I don’t put any faith in them."
Staff writer Jarrett Renshaw contributed to this report.