In May of 2007 the Republican Party filed a lawsuit (Wilson v. Brown) citing the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) in seeking copies of the emails sent between Carla Katz and Jon Corzine during the recent state worker contract negotiations.
CWA Local 1034 was not a named party to the lawsuit and Carla Katz was not a named party to the lawsuit.Prior to entering into contract negotiations Katz had told her own Executive Board that she would not be corresponding with Corzine during negotiations. Entering into contract negotiations she also pledged along with the other CWA Local presidents that the national CWA representatives from District 1 would be the primary negotiators and there would be no independent contract negotiations with the employer.
Initially, Katz denied the existence of the emails. In later court filings she claimed they were personal communications. In even later court filings she claimed to be negotiating on behalf of the members of Local 1034.
It is now clear that Carla Katz engaged in secret correspondence with the Governor Corzine during contract negotiations. Even worse, CWA District 1 representatives filed a brief as a friend of the court in this matter stating that Carla Katz was not authorized to conduct direct negotiations with the employer. On Saturday afternoon, June 9, 2007, Carla Katz sent an email to the 1034 Executive Board seeking their authorization to intervene in the email lawsuit in an effort to shield those emails from member and public scrutiny.
Jonathan Berg was the only Board member who objected to the lawsuit intervention. Not only did he object to the intervention, he requested detailed information before any decision was finalized. His objections were ignored and the requested information was never provided to him. Multiple written requests for information were sent directly to Carla Katz and the Local through the summer of 2007.
Jonathan Berg is a loyal and devoted member of CWA Local 1034. He has served on the Executive Board as Vice-President for the Higher Level Supervisory Unit for 5 consecutive 3-year terms. He has been an activist and Shop Steward even longer. After 28 years with the Department of Environmental Protection he has a well-deserved reputation as a strong advocate for all members. Those that work there will tell you that he has never turned away any member in need. In 2006 he was elected to a 3-year term on the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) Board of Trustees, with the support of Local 1034. In the summer of 2007 he was elected by the PERS Board of Trustees to a 3-year term on the State Investment Council and subsequently elected Vice-Chairman of the council.
Jonathan Berg’s efforts to question the lawsuit intervention did not sit well with Carla Katz. When his strong objections to the email lawsuit intervention were publicly aired in the Star-Ledger Carla Katz’ response was to demand members of the 1034 Executive Board illegally suspend Jonathan Berg from his elected position on the Board (a violation of federal law), charge him with bringing the Local into disrepute and have Jonathan Berg removed from CWA membership completely! As a result of the illegal actions of Carla Katz and the Executive Board, a highly respected law firm specializing in union democracy rights has filed a complaint in federal court on behalf of Jonathan Berg for violating long-standing federal labor laws regarding freedom of speech and the right to due process.
Read the complaint and you will see how Carla Katz treats someone who merely had the nerve to ask questions and speak out against her misuse of dues money and her extraordinary misconduct in contacting the Governor during contract negotiations.
But don't take our word for it! Click Here, read the actual complaint and draw your own conclusions!
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