April 10, 2003

I can’t begin to tell you what an experience being you Chairman has been these past 10 months. I have been more places and met more people than I would ever have imagined in one lifetime. It has been a job, make no mistake, but one I have enjoyed immensely.

There is a lot going on already in preparation for the State Assembly elections coming up in November. The Board has taken an active role in meeting with a number of potential candidates and incumbents for all seats in the Assembly and Senate. As we get closer to the elections, I will try to provide you with the positions of as many candidates as possible.

As you know, Remote Control has been one of the hot issues for our Organization. We have taken the Shreveport La. Resolution and presented it as a basis for a “State Wide” resolution in New Jersey. If successful, we will be the second state in the country to pass such legislation.

The proposal was presented to several members of the Assembly Committee on Transportation headed by Assemblyman John Wisniewski of the 19^th District. In addition, it was also presented to Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto of the 32^nd District. I am pleased to say that Assemblyman Impreveduto agreed to be the primary Sponsor the bill and it has been assigned a number A 3456. It is expected to be placed before committee in late April or early May. Since that time, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (D) 37^th District as signed on as a Co-Prime Sponsor, and Assemblyman Christopher Connors (R) 9^th District has offered to co-sponsor as well.

At a recent Republican breakfast in Hammonton, NJ we had the opportunity to talk with State Senator Leonard Connors ( R ) of the 9^thDistrict. When told of our attempt to pass this legislation, he asked if we had a sponsor in the Senate. Since we did not, he offered to be the primary sponsor of a bill in the NJ Senate. Thank you Senator Connors.

The other issue of major importance to our membership is the proposed merger between the BLE and the IBT. The questionnaires have been distributed and collected and the results are to be announced later this month.

All State Legislative Reps have been called to attend the Western General Chairman’s meeting to be held in Vegas, the week of April 14^th. A special meeting including the State Legislative Chairmen is to be held on Wednesday the 16^th to discuss the subject of Remote Control as well as the status of the proposed merger. On my return, I will provide details of the meeting.

There are a number of issues on the Federal level, which may be of concern and interest to the membership. H.R. 1119 is a bill scheduled for a vote on the House floor after Easter. It deals with serious changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act which will allow employers to swap “overtime pay”, for “compensatory time off”. It has the potential to completely change the fabric of the 40-hour workweek.

Another piece of proposed legislation is designed to change the qualifications of workers entitled to collect overtime pay. Currently, workers who earn less than $20,000 per year do not qualify for overtime payments. This legislation would reduce the threshold from $20,000 to about $12,000 thus enabling a large percentage of minimum wage workers to qualify for overtime payments. At the same time, it seeks to change the qualifications of many white collar workers who do receive overtime payments to being exempt from the overtime pay rate of time and one half. Taken together with H.R.1119, they pose a double whammy on the majority of working people in this country.

One last piece of legislation dealt with changes to the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). The proposal would increase the minutia of reporting of Union activities requiring determination down to 10% of each Officers activities regarding lobbying, contract negotiations, administration, organizing and general overhead. We are pleased to announce that opposition to these changes was endorsed by the following NJ Representatives, Frank LoBiondo ( R ) 2^nd Congressional Dist., Christopher Smith ( R ) 4^th District, Jim Saxton (R ) 3^rd District and Michael Ferguson, ( R ) 7^th District. Such reporting is not required of any other representative of any corporation by even the IRA. While not yet decided, we have strong support against the proposed changes.