Highlights

WEC is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to our Board of Directors.   "As health professionals, we are creating standards in the workplace to protect the health and safety of our patients and workers in our union contracts and lawmakers in Trenton.  Joining the board of WEC provides an opportunity to work with others taking on challenges in their own communities and workplaces and I'm looking forward to collaborating to demand improvements for all workers in New Jersey," Alexis Rean Walker, Co-President Central-South Jersey Region, HPAE "As an advocate for income equality and labor standards that benefit working New Jerseyans, I'm thrilled to join the board of WEC to help this amazing organization achieve safe, secure jobs for all," Brandon McKoy, Policy Analyst for New Jersey Policy Perspective

New Jersey faces major threats from climate change. The state has already seen the impacts of heat waves and increased flooding from sea level rise. We cannot afford to be unprepared in the face of the next Superstorm Sandy caused by climate change. Likewise, there are major social and economic impacts of climate change if our state does not act quickly to reduce emissions. New Jersey’s electricity grid is vulnerable to power outages from extreme weather, like Superstorm Sandy and the storm that hit South Jersey in 2015 when nearly 300,000 people lost power. New Jersey must build a better energy future. It is well within our reach to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and secure prosperity and health for all New Jerseyans, in a cheaper manner than our current fossil-fuel economy. In fact, a 2015 report by Stanford and UC Berkeley showed that by achieving 100 percent wind, water, and solar energy by 2050, New Jersey would save $57 per person in annual energy costs. New Jersey can return to being a clean energy leader, learn from other states that are leading the way on climate change and save ratepayers money as well. In November 2016, the Institute for Energy [...]

The Healthy Schools Now coalition of the NJ Work Environment Council is proud to partner with Education Law Center in calling for the NJ Department of Education and NJ Schools Development Authority (SDA) to approve submitted Emergent Project requests from SDA districts.  With the most recent emergent projects submission deadline in September of 2016, the state agencies responsible for decisions have had more than enough time to review and grant approvals for emergency projects. According to the SDA, emergent projects defined in Department of Education regulations at 6A:26 "means a capital project necessitating expedited review and, if applicable, approval, in order to alleviate a condition that, if not corrected on an expedited basis, would render a building or facility so potentially injurious or hazardous that it causes an imminent peril to the health and safety of students or staff.” Twenty-three of the 31 SDA districts submitted a total of 429 project applications under the 2016 PEP program. This is a constitutionally mandated obligation for the state.  We implore the NJ Department of Education and Schools Development Authority to release the Emergent Project approvals expeditiously. Full Press Release

Congress just made it easier for employers to hide serious workplace injuries from OSHA On March 21, the Senate voted to overturn OSHA’s Volks Rule. The Volks rule restored OSHA’s traditional ability to require employers to maintain accurate records for five years and to be able to use that data to figure out where recurring problems occur and better enforce the law. According to Confined Space, "In short, for 40 years, OSHA was able to cite employers who did not keep complete or accurate injury or illness records over the previous five years. This enabled OSHA to identify deliberate patterns of under reporting and to force changes, not just on those employers’ recordkeeping practices, but on their unsafe work practices. Accurate records are the main way workers and employers can identify health and safety problems in the workplace and correct them." Employers still have to keep logs, but now they can’t be cited for improper record keeping except within a shorter time frame. Unions and workers have the right to see and should track employers’ OSHA Logs; if the logs are incomplete or have inaccuracies they should contact OSHA immediately so that the citations and/or fines stay within the six-month [...]

The Public Need over Corporate Greed campaign presumes that fundamental social change, in New Jersey and elsewhere, can only be achieved if workers, communities, and environmental organizations join forces to combat big moneyed special interests and corporate power. We are excited to announce that we have now trained 45 trainers who are prepared to educate other activists on the economic strip mining of our economy, and how corporations and Wall Street firms have robbed our country, state, communities, and workplaces. Together, we are prepared to shine a spotlight, and make clear the complex economics that political elites would prefer be kept muddled and unclear. Understanding finance and how it affects us is more important now than ever, as we move into an era in which industry executives and Wall Street financiers are leading our federal agencies and setting national policy. If you wish to arrange a training session on financialization and how it affects your community, please contact campaign organizer Brandon Castro. We don't yet have a date set, but we're exploring another train-the-trainer session, possibly this summer. If interested, please complete the application below. Trainer Apprenticeship Application Public Need Over Corporate Greed

WEC and allies, including the Professional Fire Fighters Association of NJ, have been working together for more than two years on a bill that would make communities safer from ultra-explosive crude oil trains. The Oil Train Safety Bill A2463 (S806) is scheduled for a floor vote in the NJ Assembly this Thursday, March 23, 2017. Please contact your Assembly members and urge them to vote for community safety by voting yes on bill A2463.  Issue Details Crude oil and other high-hazard trains travel through both our urban and rural communities. They are visible and easily identifiable to anyone who has ever been stuck at a railroad crossing. Each train carrying hazardous chemicals is required by the US Department of Transportation to have a placard on it identifying the material inside. Placards are an important source of information for emergency responders and railroad employees and others. However, if trains are damaged, or worse, on fire, the placards may not help our first responders. The State has refused to release information regarding how often trains travel through our communities and the volume of hazardous materials contained within, both of which are vital for emergency preparedness and response. This contradicts other states that [...]