The New Jersey State AFL-CIO congratulates and thanks Gov. Phil Murphy for signing into law the New Jersey Call Center Jobs Act, which aims to end the corporate outsourcing of call center jobs and instead keep those jobs in New Jersey.
The legislation comes at the end of a long campaign by organized labor, and the substantial contributions of IBEW 827 and the CWA made the difference.
The Call Center Act (A-1992 and S-1780) provides solid protections against outsourcing by requiring at least 65% of call center jobs to be staffed domestically for the companies to be eligible for state Economic Development Authority tax incentive grants.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO thanks Assembly sponsors Shavonda E. Sumter, D-35; Tim Eustace, D-38; Daniel R. Benson, D-14; Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-37; Eric Houghtaling, D-11, and Benjie E. Wimberly, D-35, and Senate sponsors Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., D-18, and Shirley K. Turner, D-15. Their tireless efforts on behalf of fairness to working families made these protections possible.
The governor also signed a law that ensures there are labor harmony agreements for hospitality projects, guaranteeing that work on hotels and resorts can proceed without strikes, lock-outs, or slowdowns. The bill was strongly supported by our affiliated union, the HTC. The labor harmony law (S-3923 and A-5680) aids the continued growth of the hotel and resort business in New Jersey, which will continue to employ thousands.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO sends congratulations to the bill’s Senate sponsors, Fred H. Madden Jr., D-4, and Troy Singleton, D-7, and Assembly sponsors Thomas P. Giblin, D-34; Britnee N. Timberlake, D-34, and Carol A. Murphy, D-7.
A third law, which increases the pre-notification time and requires severance pay in certain plant closings, transfers, and mass layoffs, has gained Murphy’s signature. This plant-closing law, sponsored by state Sen. Joseph P. Cryan and triggered in part by the collapse of Toys “R” Us and Sears, is getting national attention for its pro-labor and pro-family impact.
The plant-closing bill (S-3170 and A-5145) increases to 90 days – up from 60 – the alert a company must provide to its employees before a mass layoff or plant closing, and requires severance pay for the outgoing workers. Besides Senator Cryan, D-20, the sponsors were Sen. Nellie Pou, D-35, and Assembly members Annette Quijano, D-20; Matthew W. Milam, D-1, and R. Bruce Land, D-1.