Over the past four years, we have built a coalition consisting of over 200 labor, student, faith-based, civil rights, women, retiree, and community organizations to advance an agenda of our shared progressive values. We are focused on a variety of community strengthening initiatives supporting everything from good jobs, civic engagement, collective bargaining rights, school construction, public education, to immigration reform.

This past year, Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. achieved a truly historic success by spearheading efforts to raise New Jersey’s minimum wage through our coalition’s “Raise the Wage” campaign. This campaign was a first priority of our coalition because of the thousands of New Jerseyans who have two and three jobs, but still find it impossible to get by in our high cost-of-living state. This campaign was not only a moral imperative, but also made sense for our economy which is strongest when low and middle income workers can make ends meet. To read more about this campaign please see below.

However, our coalition is far bigger than just one campaign. Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. is a year-round operation that is committed to building up the voices of New Jersey’s working families, and will continue to mobilize on behalf of programs to uplift communities and promote democracy by the people and for the people.

Thank you for the great work you have done in 2013, and thank you for all you will do in 2014. Below you will find the highlights from our coalition’s 2013 activities.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TABLE OF CONTENTS      

1) Engaging Communities in the Democratic Process

2) “Raise the Wage” Campaign: Together We Made History

3) Standing Up for Good Jobs and Workers’ Rights

4) Preserving Essential Services to Uplift Communities

5) Strengthening Public Education

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1) Engaging Communities in the Democratic Process

• Registered 30,000 new votersthrough canvasses in Newark; mobilizing the coalition’s Ford registration van; college campus registration drives; during the 50^th Anniversary March on Washington; registering the friends and family of all coalition members; and partnering with New Jersey United students to conduct registration drives on campuses around the state.
   
• One of the greatest threats to community representation in our democracy is posed by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which seeks to bypass the public’s input into the policy process by crafting model legislation which attacks workers’ rights, guts corporates regulations, disenfranchises voters, weaken environmental protections, and benefits corporations at the expense of communities. Our coalition is working to shine a light on the anti-democratic practices of ALEC and ensure that our elected officials put the interests of their constituents first.
   
• Joined with Georgia Congressman John Lewis, the iconic civil rights leader, for a tele-town hall to urge Governor Christie to sign Early Voting legislation into law which would expand participation in the democratic process. Despite the governor’s veto of the bill, our coalition will continue to support legislation that accounts for the busy schedules of working families and encourages full-participation in the democratic process.

2) “Raise the Wage” Campaign: Together We Made History

In March 2013, the coalition launched its “Raise the Wage” campaign to secure voter approval of Ballot Question #2 to raise the minimum wage and include a cost of living adjustment. “Raise the Wage” united the efforts of 256 labor, community, religious, civil rights, student, progressive, women, and retirees groups around the state and was the principal campaign in New Jersey to advocate in support of Ballot Question #2. Our efforts spanned eight months during which we registered tens of thousands of voters; promoted our message through op-eds, letters-to-the-editor, billboards, lawn signs, leafleting, television, radio, social media, YouTube, a website, and online ads; held dozens of press conferences and community meetings; and joined with local governments to pass supportive resolutions.

“Raise the Wage Campaign” by the Numbers

• 61%– The margin of victory for Ballot Question #2 was 61% to 39% – an outstanding achievement given that the business lobby outspent our campaign by two-to-one overall and nearly ten-to-one in paid media.

• 400,000– Hard working families in New Jersey who will directly and indirectly benefit from the minimum wage increase as the policy lifts wage scales and boosts the local economy as a result of greater consumer spending.

• 47– Billboard advertisements posted in densely populated communities such as Newark, Jersey City, Camden, Plainfield, East Orange, New Brunswick, Paterson, Orange, Irvington, Elizabeth, and Passaic and posted along major highways including the New Jersey Turnpike, Route 1 & 9, and Interstates 80 and 78.

• 6,000 & 13,000– Yard signs and window signs posted throughout the community to increase awareness about the minimum wage ballot question around the state.

• 5– “Faces of the Minimum Wage” YouTube videos produced featuring minimum wage workers discussing their experiences and what a raise would mean to them.

• 6– Major newspaper endorsements secured including the Star-Ledger, the New York Times, Courier Post, Times of Trenton, South Jersey Times, and Daily Journal.

• 27– Resolutions passed by municipal and county governments urging residents to vote “Yes” on Ballot Question #2.

3) Standing Up for Good Jobs and Workers’ Rights

• The “Walmart Free Newark” campaign was a tremendous success of the Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. coalition. Under the auspices of Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc., 50 small business, faith, labor, student, women, civil rights, and community groups came together to stop Walmart from opening a store in Newark and paved the way for a ShopRite to open in the city – a responsible and family-friendly employer which will be built and staffed union. The campaign was launched in December 2012 and the agreement to open a ShopRite in Newark was announced on May 28, 2013. Our coalition’s work to unite the community under a single banner, hold rallies outside of City Hall, testify before the Newark Planning Board and City Council, and file a lawsuit against Walmart, were the reasons we succeeded in keeping Walmart out of Newark.

• Opposing privatization of the toll collectors’ jobson the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway. Our coalition understands that privatization in no way guarantees cost savings, but instead reduces accountability to the public and in the case of the toll collectors, puts decent jobs at risk. Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. is committed to standing up for jobs that provide a means for workers to take care of their families, to grow the community, and promote economic stability.

• Opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and fast-track authority that threatens thousands of American jobs. Additionally, everything from labor standards, food safety, environmental standards and human rights will be rolled back and dismantled if the TPP passes drastically undermining our communities. For this reason, we as a coalition must work together to fight back against this bad trade deal. Rather than lowering our national standards to match poor working conditions abroad, we need to raise standards for all workers and communities to level the playing field.

• Our coalition is committed to achieving commonsense immigration reform in our country and will continue to engage on this front with all of our coalition partners. Comprehensive reform remains essential to halting employers who take advantage of our failed immigration policies and to raising the standard of living for all workers.
   

4) Preserving Essential Services to Uplift Communities

• Engaged community partners in a call-in campaign to urge Congress to pass the unemployment benefits extension and restore a critical lifeline to over 90,000 New Jerseyans who recently had their benefits cut. Unemployment benefits remain a core stimulus for struggling families and are most important during these economically difficult times when jobs are scarce and thousands of workers are unemployed through no fault of their own.

• Our coalition believes that ensuring quality professional care for our state’s most vulnerable citizens is of the highest priority. Therefore, we have been active in the fight to stop the closure of New Jersey developmental centers which provide essential specialized care to thousands of patients around the state as well as good middle class jobs for care providers.

5) Strengthening Public Education

• Working with building trades unions, teachers, and community partners, our coalition is engaged in a broad-based effort to prevail upon the School Development Authority (SDA) and State Legislature to distribute the remaining $3.1 billion designated for school repairs. This funding is essential to addressing the dismal and unsafe conditions of many New Jersey schools and would benefit students, teachers, and create thousands of jobs. In 2014, our coalition will continue to engage with our various coalition partners to effectively utilize these funds.

• Rallied with the Newark Teachers Union to protest destructive budget cuts, school closures, and top-down policies that undermine Newark public schools. Our coalition is dedicated to ensuring that communities remain a prevailing voice in the effort to improve local schools and help students harness the opportunity of a quality education.

Looking Ahead in 2014

On the heels of our major victories in 2013, we look forward to working with our coalition partners to make 2014, another successful year. We will continue to focus initiatives to create good community-strengthening jobs, to promote participation in democracy, to improve education, to expand our coalition, and to ensure an economy that works for the entire community.

Thank you again for all your support, and together we will continue in the mission to improve the quality of life for all New Jersey’s working families.