(TRENTON, NJ) – This morning, the Communications Workers of America filed a lawsuit against Governor Chris Christie for refusing to make promised pension payments. The suit seeks to stop Christie from plundering $900 million from the 2014 budget’s appropriated pension payment and his intention to reduce the legally and morally committed $2.24 billion payment for Fiscal Year 2015 to less than $700 million. It will require Christie to pay into the pension systems the annual required contribution that the Legislature appropriated in the FY 2014 Appropriations Act.

“Governor Chris Christie already broke New Jersey’s economy.  Now, he’s not only broken his word by failing to make promised pension payment…he’s breaking the law in the process,” said Hetty Rosenstein, CWA NJ State Director. “Workers have done their part and are paying more. Governor Christie needs to do his part, by following the very law he touted and signed.”

The CWA lawsuit is joined by the Professional Firefighters Association of NJ (PFANJ) the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers (IFTPE) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The hearing on a combined lawsuit will be Wednesday, June 25th.  Steve Weissman - managing attorney for the law firm of Weissman & Mintz – will represent these unions in the lawsuit.

Christie has the temerity to break the very statute he signed into law with much fanfare in 2011. Chapter 78 reformed the pension plan and included very strong language guaranteeing that payments would be made to the pension plan, phased in in 1/7th increments. The language in the law is crystal clear:  the State has to pay the yearly amount accrued (the Normal Cost) and the actuarially required portion of the amount that is owed to the plan from past years and investment losses (the Accrued Unfunded Liability.)  There is nothing in the law that allows any governor to not make those payments.

Also this morning, members of the Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS) passed action 5-1 to hire independent counsel and also file a lawsuit against the Christie Administration. The Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) board will meet on Wednesday, June 18th, when it is expected that board will pass a similar motion, as well.

”As fiduciaries to this Fund, the PFRS board of trustees exercised their obligation to protect the trust and the rights of the members who are going to collect pensions from it,” said Dominic Marino, President of the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey.  “I commend the PFRS board of trustees for voting today to protect the solvency of the PFRS Fund and its future, by commencing litigation to require the government to make the legally mandated contributions to this Fund.”