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Firefighters, cops protest at Trenton statehouse

Elizabeth Fire Department firefighters Rick Maliniak, center left, and Andy Socha have American flags stuck in their helmets as they stand with other firefighters and police officers and their supporters in a large gathering outside the Trenton Statehouse on Thursday during a rally to protest staff cuts and promote public safety. (Mel Evans / Associated Press)
Elizabeth Fire Department firefighters Rick Maliniak, center left, and Andy Socha have American flags stuck in their helmets as they stand with other firefighters and police officers and their supporters in a large gathering outside the Trenton Statehouse on Thursday during a rally to protest staff cuts and promote public safety. (Mel Evans / Associated Press)Read more

TRENTON - Thousands of unionized firefighters and cops converged outside the New Jersey Statehouse today in a raucous rally against Gov. Christie's proposals to have public workers pay more for their health and pension benefits and make other concessions.

They also protested state cutbacks that have led to massive layoffs of public safety workers across the state, from Atlantic City to Camden to Newark.

"We are here to deliver a message in one loud, unified voice, that enough is enough!" yelled Anthony Weiners, president of the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association, as the crowd cheered.

A spokesman for the New Jersey State Police estimated the crowd at between 6,000 and 7,000 people, though one union leader said it was more than double that.

Union leaders say they are willing to negotiate changes at the collective bargaining table, but not through legislation, as Christie is advocating.

Protesters hung a sign near the statehouse steps quoting a statement made by Christie on the campaign trail in 2009 that public safety workers' pensions would not be changed.

That was a 100 percent lie, Weiners told the crowd.

"We didn't choose this fight but goddammit, we're not running away from it!" he said.

The protesters also booed Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester), an ironworker union organizer who has proposed a plan endorsed by Christie in which all government workers would pay between 12 and 30 percent of their health care premiums.

In a sign that the Democratic-controlled Legislature is breaking from Sweeney in a year when every seat is up for election, a parade of Democratic lawmakers pledged to the crowd that they would stand with them, including Senate Majority Barbara Buono (D., Middlesex), Senator Linda Greenstein (D., Middlesex), Senator Paul Sarlo (D., Bergen), and Senator Jim Whelan (D., Atlantic).

The Democrats described the governor as a protector of millionaires - referring to his refusal to approve a so-called millionaire's tax last year - at the expense of the working class.

The crowd at one point repeatedly chanted, "We want Sweeney!" but the senator was nowhere to be seen outside, and could not be reached for comment.

Bill Wiltsey, a Gloucester City police officer, said he's been on the job for more than 20 years and loves it. He wants to protect people and make a difference, he said.

Now, he's worried the benefits promised to him might not be there.

Union leaders directed angry rhetoric at those in the Statehouse, with one saying the rally was sending a message, "Don't screw with us." Another called Christie a disease and said union members would make sure he was a one-term governor.

Asked for his reaction to the screams outside, which could be heard in the governor's briefing room, Christie said during a news conference: "My message to them is this: First off, I have extraordinary respect for police officers and firefighters who put their lives on the line every day to protect the people of New Jersey, and who do a very hard job. However, that does not mean they're entitled to continue to receive benefits at the level they're receiving them."

"Would they rather enrich themselves than lay off their colleagues, or make sacrifices?" he asked.

"Candidly, I think they run the real risk of the taxpaying citizens of New Jersey coming to the conclusion that this is another me-first rally," he said.

Christie said rallies like this have "zero" effect on his decision-making process.