Communication Workers of America

TO: All CWA Local 1081 Members
FROM: David H. Weiner, President
DATE: January 19, 2007
SUBJECT: Essex County Code of Ethics

As the members of CWA Local 1081 will recall, on November 21, 2006 Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo issued the attached press release entitled "Essex County Executive DiVincenzo and NJ Attorney General Rabner Bring Ethics in Government Presentation to County Employees". The County Executive noted within the press release his "ongoing initiative to maintain high standards of integrity, accountability and fiscal responsibility in County government" and that the County holds regular ethics programs throughout the year "to remind our employees that maintaining high standards of ethics and integrity" are a priority of his administration.

Our Union's members will recall, as well, that CWA Local 1081 successfully compelled the County to revise its signature page on the Code of Ethics document all County employees were required to read and sign, this in order to protect our members from a too broadly written statement that could possibly cause them future difficulties.

Unfortunately, a very small number of our members have not taken the import of abiding by the County's Code of Ethics seriously, with the result being a few recent instances of members purportedly improperly handling applications for assistance in a manner that represented a clear conflict of interest.

CWA Local 1081 urges all of our members to abide by the County's Code of Ethics by working only on cases that are properly assigned them and to never work on a case where even a possibility of a conflict of interest exists.