Ciattarelli co-sponsored bills to limit sick leave for New Jersey public workers

New Jersey Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli, a former state legislator and former member of the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders, repeatedly co-sponsored legislation that would have slashed benefits for public employees. 

Ciattarelli, who faces Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the Nov 4 election to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2011 to 2018. He unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2017 and 2021.

During his time as an assembly member, Ciattarelli co-sponsored bills that would have prohibited payment to public employees at retirement for unused sick leave and required a doctor’s note for those using six or more days of sick leave in a row. 

His 2017 gubernatorial campaign website highlighted this as one of his “employee benefits reform” proposals that would have slashed benefits for New Jersey public employees, alongside proposals to limit health care benefits for current and future retirees, privatize pension plans, and prohibit high-benefit employer-funded health care plans.

None of these proposals are currently listed on his 2025 campaign issues page, and his campaign did not respond to a request for comment for this story. His current proposals include a ban on telework for state employees and the creation of an N.J. Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate “unnecessary spending and fraud in government.”

The Ciattarelli-backed sick leave proposal was strongly opposed by labor organizations representing public employees.

According to a May 2018 New Jersey 101.5 radio report, New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police president Robert Fox warned that passage of the change would disincentivize law enforcement officers from showing up for work. “These guys earn it,” he said of the paid sick leave. “These guys are going to use it, believe me. They’re not going to walk away and leave a hundred sick days on the books.” 

The report also noted that under collective bargaining agreements, many public employees had agreed to caps on how much they can collect for unused sick leave. “We consider this a fairly modest retirement benefit, not something that is bilking taxpayers,” Communications Workers of America staff representative Seth Hahn reportedly said. 

“It is an attack on collective bargaining, and by extension, it is an attack on the sustainability of the middle class,” Ginger Gold Schnitzer, then-director of government relations for the New Jersey Education Association added, according to the outlet.

“I’m not anti-union, but I think our economy is best served when there’s balance,” Ciattarelli told the New Jersey Business & Industry Association in June. “Right now, we don’t have that kind of balance.”

Ciattarelli has a lengthy anti-labor record, opposing collective bargaining for all public workers, opposing the right to strike for train engineers, opposing paid family leave, voting to eliminate lifetime health benefits for Somerset County employees and their spouses, and repeatedly voting against proposals to raise New Jersey’s minimum wage. 

The New Jersey AFL-CIO, which represents more than 1 million New Jersey workers and their families, endorsed Sherrill in June. 

“Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill has always stood shoulder-to-shoulder with New Jersey’s working people,” union president Charles Wowkanech said in a press release. “With a 100% voting record with labor, Mikie has fought for us in Washington, and we are proud to fight for her now. She’s the leader New Jersey’s labor movement trusts to champion workers’ rights and deliver for all our families.”