The elected rank and file executive board members of the New York New Jersey Regional Joint Board voted unanimously to disaffiliate from UNITE HERE, forming an independent union.

In doing so, New York and New Jersey Joint Board members joined 150,000 other union members across the country whose delegates and elected leaders also voted to disaffiliate from the international union.

The economic crisis that is affecting all of us has shown America that it's time to put working people first - not billionaires and corporate special interests.

We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the election of President Obama and the new Congress to make real progress on jobs, health care, a path to citizenship, and the right of every worker to organize. 

January 21,  2009 - Ninety Five members of the New York New Jersey Regional Joint Board's Manufacturing Division have finalized a new contract with their employer, Book Covers Inc in Newark, NJ.

Due to the weak economy, Book Covers Inc has recently suffered from decreased customer orders, and has been forced to temporary layoff 20% of the workforce. Despite this tough economic situation, the union bargaining committee was able to win the following:

January 15, 2009 - Members of Local 96 at the Hilton Hotel in East Brunswick recently achieved an important victory against the subcontracting of union jobs. Last Summer, management at the Hilton East Brunswick fired all three members of the night cleaning department, replacing them with temporary workers from a subcontracted cleaning firm.

Local 96 fought back, arguing that our union contract prohibits employers from displacing union members by hiring temporary contract workers. This essential component of our union contract ensures that employers can not erode union standards by slowly outsourcing all union departments to outside employers, who typically provides much lower wage and benefit levels than what union members have been able to win.

November 4, 2008 - On election night, leaders from the New Jersey Democratic Party gathered at the Heldrich Center to participate in the making of history, as Barack Obama was elected this country's first African-American President.