Murphy signs break-in-service law
In a momentous win for NJEA members, Gov. Murphy has signed S2078/A1675 into law, restoring a large measure of pension justice to members who had career breaks of longer than two years before returning to the profession and learning that they had been forced into inferior Tier 5 pensions. Many of those affected were women who had taken time away from teaching to care for their children or other family members in need. Upon returning, despite having worked and earned credits in higher pension tiers, they were automatically placed into Tier 5, meaning they would have to work as much as 10 additional years and that their pensions, even when they did eventually retire, would be dramatically decreased.
NJEA supported legislation to fix that injustice by extending to 10 years the amount of time school employees can be away before they are removed from their rightful pension tier. Months of tireless advocacy – including many members sharing their stories with New Jersey legislators – led to the overwhelming passage of both bills last June, by a margin of 31-5 in the Senate and 69-9 in the Assembly. Murphy’s signature today immediately restores those members’ rights to their original pension tiers.
NJEA’s officers, President Steve Beatty, Vice President Petal Robertson and Secretary-Treasurer Tina Dare released this statement:
“Today, we witnessed what union advocacy and solidarity can accomplish. Over the last year, our members spent countless hours fighting to overturn an unjust law and we won. Like almost anything worth doing, it was hard work. But our members never gave up and never took ‘no’ for an answer. This win is especially gratifying because that unjust law disproportionately punished women. We were proud that women and men in our membership came together to fight for worker justice, economic justice and gender justice. This is a landmark victory.
“This is just the beginning. Even with this important victory, the majority of our members remain in Tier 5, an inferior and unjust pension tier that forces newer members of our profession to work far longer before they can retire and to receive far less in retirement. That’s why we are ramping up our Tier 1 for Everyone campaign that will once again ensure that everyone who serves a career in public education in New Jersey can retire with the dignity and security they deserve.”
NJEA members can go here to learn more about NJEA’s Tier 1 for Everyone campaign.