State unions vow street fight to oppose changes Thursday, November 16, 2006 • BY TOM HESTER AND JOE DONOHUE • Star-Ledger Staff If Gov. Jon Corzine and lawmakers want to know what New Jersey's powerful public employee unions think of the property tax relief plans proposed yesterday, they can simply look out the Statehouse windows on Dec. 11. That's when the New Jersey Education Association intends to turn out thousands of teachers and school employees to show their displeasure with plans to change health and pension benefits. The NJEA is inviting other public employees -- state workers, firefighters and police officers -- to join it. Both houses of the Legislature plan voting sessions that day. Even before the protest, Carla Katz, president of Local 1034 of the Communications Workers of America, the state's largest public employees union, plans to lead an army of lobbyists to the Statehouse and the hometown offices of legislators. "We are gearing up for a fairly major multi-union fight," Katz said. "We have the political clout, the fi nances and the people to fight those recommendations with all the strength we have. We will be lobbying in the streets if we have to." One of the four legislative committees studying ways to cut the nation's highest property taxes yesterday suggested changes including raising the retirement age, limiting some pension credits, and requiring contributions to health plans. "In our view, the legislators are using public workers as political scapegoats and are trying to dic tate benefits currently under negotiation," Katz said. "We see this as an attack on the middle class." Lynn Maher, spokeswoman for the 196,000-member teachers union, said a proposal to make public employees who retire after next year pay a premium on their health insurance could spark a mass retirement. She said 32,498 teachers and school employees -- nearly a quarter of the public school work force -- are eligible to retire by the end of June. "We are getting many calls a day from members asking if they should retire because the Legislature is even talking about making changes to pensions and benefits," Maher said. "It would be very chaotic." The New Jersey School Board Association, meanwhile, is leery of proposals to create "super" county superintendents of schools to oversee local school spending, make it difficult to raise school budgets and shift nonpartisan school board elections from April to the general election ballot in November. "Teams of local school board members have started to arrange meetings with their legislators," said spokesman Frank Belluscio. William G. Dressel, director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, said local government officials have questions about how a 20 percent property tax break would be funded and who would benefit, as well as a proposal for the creation of a state board to oversee municipal mergers. "We will have to pull out all the stops and lobby very, very strenuously," Dressel said. "I see a lot of unanswered questions." The league plans to have legislative leaders appear before mayors Dec. 12 in Lawrence. © 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.