After a conditional veto of an increase in New Jersey's minimum wage by Gov. Chris Christie (R), working families, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO and a coalition of 151 organizations are pushing for a measure that would raise the state's wage to $8.25 per hour and attach a cost-of-living adjustment to the wage for the future. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D) also joined the "Raise the Wage" campaign. In November, voters will be able to decide on the ballot whether or not to increase the minimum wage.

This year's winner of the Electrical Workers' (IBEW's) annual photo contest, Bill DeClement, from Folsom, N.J., Local 351, took home first place for his photo of two IBEW members riding in a "window rig at about 7 a.m. one morning in Atlantic City when a blanket of fog rolled in, swaddling the ocean and city below." The photo was taken from the highest Atlantic City building, the Revel Casino. 

Here's a look at some of the key battles in the states from the past week.

Yesterday, we told you House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) broke his promise to hold a vote on a desperately needed relief package for the victims and communities devastated by Hurricane Sandy more than two months after the storm. After a massive and angry outcry—especially from members of his own party who called his vote squelching a “cruel stab in the back”—Boehner announced he would bring a hurricane aid bill to the floor Friday.

But that patchwork package falls far short of the help Sandy’s victims need.

Lee Sandberg, communications coordinator for the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, sends us this update.

The New Jersey State AFL-CIO, working together with its Executive Board members, central labor councils, Building Trades councils and affiliated unions, amassed a mountainous collection of union-made toys that was proudly presented to a team of U.S. Marines today in Trenton, on behalf of the U.S. Marine Corps' “Toys for Tots” program.

President Obama sent a request to Congress asking for $60.4 billion to fund Hurricane Sandy storm recovery efforts. The request is expected to be introduced in legislation next week and will be debated after that.

Several years ago, Roy Foster, president of the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, was flipping through the radio stations in his car while driving through Philadelphia and landed on a program that peaked his interest.

New Jersey State AFL-CIO President Charles Wowkanech and New Jersey State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Laurel Brennan send us this update on Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. 

The UAW in Atlantic City has thousands of members who were impacted by Hurricane Sandy. In addition to sustaining major property losses, our brothers and sisters have had their hours cut because of the devastation to the casino industry. The critical message to our members is that they are not in this alone. Various recovery resources are available, and we will do everything to get them the help they need as soon as possible.

While the election and other stories have taken Superstorm Sandy out of the headlines, millions of Americans who were in the storm's path are still in need of assistance. Don't let the the short attention span of the news cycle delay necessary aid to those whose lives have been permanently altered.

A historic three-year deal was struck between New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Newark teachers on Wednesday. The Newark Teachers Union is the first in the Garden State to include merit bonus pay based on classroom performance in its contract. Gov. Christie and AFT President Randi Weingarten met on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" today to talk about the bonus pay agreement. Watch the video below. 

Weingarten says:

This is a dynamic, new contract that's fair to the teachers, but most importantly, that's good for kids. That's why when people looked at this, they voted it up by more than 60%....In all this, Sandy happened and the governor did an extraordinary job in terms of all the work in New Jersey, and this is the way government should work whether it's at the collective bargaining table or whether there is a public disaster. You have lots of public employees who, every single day, are trying to make a difference in the lives of kids of the community. We worked hard at the table to come up with something that is good for Newark.