The New Jersey State AFL-CIO today joined with partners and advocates from across the state to be recognized by the state Senate for their work last year to successfully increase the state’s minimum wage.
At the opening of today’s Senate session, Senate President Steve Sweeney presented Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. (WFUNJ) – the statewide community advocacy coalition that led the campaign for November’s successful referendum to raise the state’s minimum wage – with a resolution in recognition of the work that went into passing the state constitutional amendment by a landslide margin.
The New Jersey State AFL-CIO is a founding partner of WFUNJ.
“The minimum wage campaign proved that when communities come together on the right side of an issue, you win,” said Charles Wowkanech, president of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO. “Despite being outspent, we showed that grassroots strength and community engagement and involvement will achieve tremendous success at the ballot box. WFUNJ turned people who thought raising the minimum wage was the right thing to do into voters who said it loud and clear in the voting booth. All of us who are proud to be part of this coalition are deeply honored by this recognition today.”
Working Families United for New Jersey, Inc. is a non-partisan statewide grassroots coalition consisting of over 250 religious, labor, community, civil rights, student, progressive, women, and retirees groups collectively committed to engaging community members in the democratic process, promoting issue education, and building a better life for New Jersey’s working families.