The New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller has indicated that dozens of public entities ignored a state transparency rule to submit current union contracts to the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC), including several in Hudson County.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Under the New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act (EERA), enacted in 1968, public employers are required to file their employee labor contracts with PERC. Since 2010, PERC also has been required to publish the contracts on its website.
Using data obtained in December 2023, the OSC found that 64 percent of 586 school districts and 27 percent of 488 municipalities failed to provide copies of current union contracts to PERC as of the end of 2021.
“The posting of union contracts on PERC’s website is an important tool for New Jersey residents, unions, and the government,” Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh said in a statement.
“By law, taxpayers are supposed to have immediate access to this information. PERC’s website provides a free way for local governments to meet their transparency obligations. It is disappointing and surprising that more of them are not complying with the law.”
By comparison, in 2010, 97 percent of municipalities and over 80 percent of school districts complied, according to the letter that OSC sent to PERC’s Chair.
OSC’s review also found that 12 local government entities and 69 school districts have not submitted any contracts to PERC since at least 2010. Local governments seem to have “limited awareness” of the law’s filing requirements, OSC found.
PERC has not sent out any notices to local governments, instead, it has only posted a document on its website.
There are some school districts that have not complied with this state rule since 2008, such as the Union City Board of Education. The Guttenberg BOE has not submitted a report to PERC since 2010, the OSC reported.
Additionally, the Hudson County Schools of Technology haven’t submitted the aforementioned reports since 2011, while the North Bergen BOE hasn’t since 2012.
Out of those four entities, only the North Bergen BOE returned a request for comment on Wednesday, where a spokesman said they would be filing all outstanding documentation.
Only one public school board in Hudson County, the Jersey City BOE, has submitted reports through 2023, according to the documents released by the comptroller.
Among the 12 local municipalities, Harrison, Hoboken, Union City, and Weehawken were all up to date through this year, with Guttenberg current through 2023.
The furthest behind is Kearny, who hasn’t filed since 2014, per the comptroller’s office. Officials for the West Hudson town did not return inquiries seeking comment.
OSC’s review spanned the period 2010 to 2023. OSC based its findings of non-compliance on data through the end of 2021 to highlight the school districts and municipalities that have been out of compliance for at least two years.
The comptroller’s office also not that if they had based its findings on data through the end of 2023, the rate of non-compliance would have been even higher.
OSC made several recommendations, including that PERC should consider using its rulemaking authority to create an enforcement mechanism that would encourage compliance.
In a lengthy letter to PERC Chair Mary Beth Hennessy-Shotter, Walsh calls for either PERC, the Department of Community Affairs, Division of Local Government Services (DLGS), and/or the Department of Education (DOE) create an enforcement mechanism so that public entities begin complying with reporting requirements.
“After implementing notice and training, PERC should reassess school district and municipal compliance. If those efforts are unsuccessful, PERC should seek guidance from the Attorney General’s Office on its regulatory authority to enforce the EERA’s union contract filing requirement,” he wrote.
“If the Attorney General finds that PERC has rule making authority under existing law to create an enforcement mechanism under the EERA, PERC should do so. If the Attorney General finds otherwise, the Legislature should consider amending the EERA to empower PERC to ensure compliance with its union contract filing requirements.”
Perhaps Al Santos should have been spending less time on his multiple jobs and lobbying to become a judge…
A small town like Kearny, what’s the excuse for being behind for 10 years?