Members began PBA Day by gathering in Committee Room 4 of the State House annex to make their presence felt at the Senate Judiciary Committee
meeting.
ONE FINE DAY CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33
Day of thunder
Scenes and signs pointing to a big day appeared even before
a single member stepped into the State House. The NJ State PBA
trailer parked out in front on State Street served up pot after
pot of coffee as members mustered an hour before the doors
opened. And the line to get in extended more than halfway down
the 100-yard walkway leading into the State House annex where
the committee meeting rooms are located.
Inside Committee Room 6 on the first floor, members from
multiples Locals gathered for a meeting of the Senate Labor
Committee. They stood silent, adopting poses that ranged from
those you might see from officers guarding a crime scene or
working a road job.
The meeting began with discussion on a bill being considered
to reduce and/or eliminate sick time. Many of the members here
were from Essex County, where a busload from Newark brought
rank and file from Essex County Sheriffs and Court Attendants
Local 183, Essex County Corrections Local 382 and several towns
in the county.
Here was PBA Day at its most grassroots level.
“Letting the politicians know that we’re here and we’re going
to be here,” Local 183 President Rob Slater submitted. “Here they
are today looking to take away sick time, which is negotiated in
lieu of a raise in half of these contracts. So we’re going to make
our presence known.”
The lengths members navigated to come to Trenton helps de-
fine the presence. Twelve from Edison Local 75 came on their day
off. Mainland Local 77 organized a jitney to bring nine members
from Atlantic and Cape May counties.
One of those was Ventnor Local 97 President Bryan Gaviria,
who nearly accepted the State PBA invitation to bring children to
PBA Day if daycare was a problem.
“I didn’t want to bring my one-year old on the jitney,” Gaviria
shared. “But perhaps next year, when he’s a little older, I might
bring him along, so they see that it’s not just the officers who are
affected. It’s their families as well.”
Day care
How great would have the Gaviria boy looked wearing a shirt
with Local insignia or a PBA shield? How memorable would it
have been to see that image among the blue line flags on the front
and back of so many shirts, as well as the department patches
and logos that filled the hallways, the committee rooms and ulti-
mately the galleries of the Assembly and Senate chambers.
“It feels good to see the shields all over the building,” Ewing
Township Local 111 President John Kucker commented. “It re-
minds you that you are part of something much bigger.”
Scenes of how big it has become initially took place behind the
scenes on PBA Day. As the Senate Judiciary Committee convened
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ APRIL 2018
at 10 a.m., PBA members filled the room so thick that it was nearly
impossible to move. Somehow, Senate President Steve Sweeney
found his way through the crowd to see Colligan and Kovar and
assure them that the vote on the pension bill would go their way
in his chamber.
Prior to that meeting, Colligan, Kovar, PBA Director of Govern-
ment Affairs Rob Nixon and Tardio sat with Senator Vin Gopal,
one of those the PBA worked to help get elected in November.
President Colligan had made such meetings an objective of this
PBA Day, and its occurrence illustrated how the politicians have
come to view the PBA.
“He is constantly checking in to see what we really need, what
issues we have,” reported Tardio, chair of the Monmouth County
Conference that is part of Gopal’s constituency.
Another example of legislators looking after law enforcement
came when Cumberland County Corrections Local 231 State Del-
egate Victor Bermudez ran into Senator Jeff Van