Cross-bay Glares After Christie Vetoes DRBA Workers’ Pay Hike

NORTH CAPE MAY – Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA), which operates the Cape May-Lewes Ferry and Cape May County Airport among other bi-state ventures, hit a gubernatorial sandbar on the New Jersey side of the bay April 22. Call it a “salary shoal” that has marooned 355 union and non-union employees.
Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, not one to shun headwinds of any kind, is standing tough on his April 22 veto of DRBA meeting minutes. Thus, the initiative is dead in the water.
Included were collective bargaining agreements with DRBA unions: Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association, International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 542, AFL-CIO, and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 14 as well as non-unionized workers. All were granted 1.9-percent annual salary hikes and 10 percent healthcare premium sharing by employees, an unchanged level, at the April 7 meeting.
The April 7 vote was 10-1 with an abstention. Commissioner Richard S. Mroz of Haddonfield, appointed by Christie in 2010 over original objections of Cape May County Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st), and seated July 17, 2012, cast the lone “no” vote against the agreements. Chairman James H. Hogan of Franklinville abstained, as he is related to an authority employee.
A statement by Christie explained the rejection as “out of step with those paid by New Jersey’s public employees and inappropriate for the current fiscal climate…These terms were granted despite the fact that, under the landmark bipartisan pension and health benefit reforms of 2011, public employees in New Jersey are entering the fourth year of increased cost-sharing for their health benefits without offsetting salary increases and many non-union employees have not received salary increases as the state emerges from the recession.
“The DRBA is well aware that New Jersey state employees and many local employees have already moved to a higher level of healthcare cost sharing than what is paid by DRBA employees today and that there must be equity in these times of fiscal restraint to protect taxpayers and toll payers alike. The DRBA’s attempted action here is clearly contrary to that principle and inconsistent with the contracts public employees are living under in New Jersey today. For these reasons, I am vetoing these inappropriate actions.”
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, took an opposite stance, and sided with DRBA.
In an April 24 statement from his office, “Gov. Markell disagrees with Gov. Christie’s decision to veto the collective bargaining agreements and with treating DRBA employees like New Jersey state employees. The DRBA is a bi-state agency that has been operating in a fiscally responsible manner and its commissioners have endeavored to enter agreements that are fair and in the best interests of the authority and its customers.”
For its part, DRBA’s “Board and management will continue to pursue reasonable wage increases for all employees. They will continue to work with the two governors’ offices and the three unions to try to reach a fair solution for all,” wrote James E. Salmon, authority spokesman, April 24.
In an April 22 release, DRBA noted, “Many authority employees haven’t had a cost of living increase in five of the past six years.”
It cited the 1962 Congressional Compact that formed the bi-state authority that has 12 members. The entity is evenly divided between states and political parties.
“It was not left to one state or another. It was not designed to be controlled by one state, cooperation and compromise would be necessary. For more than 50 years, governors from Delaware and New Jersey have worked together and with the authority in the best interest of the people of the two states and the traveling public,” the release stated.
Authority Vice Chair William E. Lowe III was quoted as stating, “Gov. Christie has attempted to impose a ‘New Jersey way or the highway’ mentality and repeatedly directed us to conform our operations to the rules of the State of New Jersey, especially on personnel matters. “Yesterday’s veto is a further indication of that one-sided stance.”
“This isn’t just about public employees getting a long overdue cost of living increase. The authority is an independent body that receives no funding from either state, there’s no negotiation or discussion with Gov. Christie on these matters, the only criteria is, ‘are you conducting business exactly as New Jersey does?” stated Commissioner Samuel E. Latham, vice chair of the DRBA’s Personnel Committee.
“What makes this so much more difficult to take is that the DRBA has an outstanding record of conservative financial management,” stated Gary F. Traynor, vice chair, Budget and Finance Committee. “The DRBA as shown prudent fiscal oversight over our pension and OPEB trust funds, making more than our required annual payment each of the last four years, and exceeding actuarial requirements. We have maintained services while reducing staffing by 25 percent over the last 10 years. Few other public bodies, including the State of New Jersey, can make similar claims.”
An April 23 story in The (Wilmington) News Journal, which closely covers the authority, reported that the veto was not Christie’s first. He blocked the DRBA’s 2010 budget, “citing its 3 percent increase in spending.” It further noted he “rejected more than $25,000 that was approved for payment to 98 vendors in unspecified amounts to the used throughout the year.” Christie also vetoed the authority’s “capital budget plans” in 2011, “Because they presumed a toll increase that hadn’t yet been proposed or approved by either state.”