EAST ORANGE /BLOOMFIELD, NJ — As state legislators consider gradually raising New Jersey’s minimum wage to $15 an hour, workers and advocates praised local elected leaders in the city of East Orange and Bloomfield Township for keeping their communities at the forefront of the fight for worker rights by guaranteeing a living wage for their own city employees.
On Thursday, Feb. 4, the city of East Orange entered into a contract with CWA Local 1077 raising the minimum pay for 99.5 percent of employees to $15 an hour, with the remaining number to receive an increase to $15 in 2018.
“This agreement makes East Orange the first city in New Jersey to demonstrate our steadfast support for smart labor negotiations designed to strengthen working families and bolster our shrinking middle class,” said East Orange Mayor Lester E. Taylor III. “Simply put, we put our money where our mouth is. I encourage other communities to do the same.”
On Monday, March 7, members of the Bloomfield Township Council are expected to pass a resolution guaranteeing a $15 minimum hourly wages for their own workers.
“Just like when Bloomfield became one of the first municipalities in the state to mandate earned sick days last year, our township is now once showing that it is one of the progressive leaders of New Jersey in ensuring that all of our employees earn a living wage,” said Bloomfield Mayor Mike Venezia. “Raising our minimum wage to $15 an hour provides a strong signal that we mean what we say and are willing to back it up with action, not just words. I am proud to see Bloomfield continue to be on the leading edge of progressive reforms that put working families first.”
“New Jersey needs more leaders with the courage and vision of Mayor Taylor and Mayor Venezia,” said Analilia Mejia, executive director for New Jersey Working Families. “It’s heartening to see leaders willing to take concrete steps towards lifting up working families in their communities. We commend the mayors and council members for joining our statewide fight for a living wage for all New Jerseyans. We hope elected leaders in other municipalities around the state will join them ensure that taxpayer dollars never go towards perpetuating poverty.”
Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has also recently raised the minimum wage for Jersey City’s employees per a February 29th executive order.
New Jersey has become a major front in the fight for worker rights thanks to robust union organizing campaigns and grassroots activism. Since 2014, 11 cities — including East Orange and Bloomfield — have passed laws guaranteeing the right to earn paid sick days for all private sector workers. Nearly 200,000 workers are now covered by local paid sick days ordinances.
On April 15, 2015, activists and advocates launched the New Jersey Fights for $15 campaign at a large rally on the steps of Newark City Hall. In September, the Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders made their county the first in the state to endorse a $15 minimum wage. Hudson and Mercer counties soon followed. As a result of grassroots momentum, Speaker Vincent Prieto and Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney have agreed to put a proposal gradually raising the state’s minimum wage to $15 on the ballot.
“Too many New Jersey workers are paid too little to support their families,” said Yrma Reyes, of the East Orange-based Laundry Workers Center. “And too many workers, especially those who rely on tips, are cheated of the minimum wage to which they are entitled by unscrupulous employers. This is a big step forward for municipal workers in East Orange and Bloomfield, but our campaign cannot stop until everyone who works hard in our state can earn a family-sustaining wage.”
New Jersey’s minimum wage is just $8.38, and $2.13 for tipped workers. According to a report from the United Way of Northern New Jersey, a single New Jerseyan with no children would need to earn $13.78 just to make basic needs like food and shelter, and $19.73 to achieve basic economic stability.
What began as an organizing campaign by fast food workers in New York City has quickly transformed into a nationwide movement for a genuine living wage that has won concessions from multinational corporations like Walmart and McDonalds and prompted Seattle to become the first city in the country to chart a course for a $15 minimum wage. San Francisco quickly followed and, in September 2015, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced he was raising the minimum wage of fast food workers to $15 an hour and would make a major push for an across the board $15 an hour minimum wage in New York State.
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