CWA New Jersey Public Workers Fight for Equity and Respect

Workers at the Department of Children and Families (DCF) in Trenton, N.J., members of CWA Local 1037, delivered over 1,400 letters to Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer urging the state to include clerical staff in the telework pilot program. Currently, the pilot program excludes 300 clerical staff who have an average of 16 years of service and are disproportionately women and people of color. “We already did telework during the pandemic, and we got the job done. Clerical staff was praised and told we were the backbone of the agency, that they couldn’t do the work without us. But now we are being excluded from the telework option. This shows a lack of respect for us, and tells us the work we did during the height of the pandemic is irrelevant,” said Janette Quiñones, head clerk in the Division of Child Protection and Permanency. The Commissioner did not meet with the workers, but workers promised to continue the fight for equity and respect.