Murphy says NJ reaches 4-year, $120M deal with state workers

Gov. Phil Murphy says he's reached a four-year, $120 million labor agreement with the biggest state worker union in New Jersey.

The first-term Democrat said Thursday the deal would run from 2019 to 2023 and cover some 32,000 state workers with the Communication Workers of America and the AFL-CIO. Workers would get 2 percent raises each year under the deal.

The contract is subject to worker ratification and would run from July 1 through June 30, 2023. Murphy says the deal also includes about $70 million in savings from changes to health benefits.

It's the second such contract that Murphy brokered with the CWA in New Jersey.

He agreed in May to a retroactive four-year deal for $150 million since that contract had lapsed under his Republican predecessor Chris Christie.