By JoAnne Powers

This week two of New Jersey's largest public employee unions told a task force looking at state worker benefits to avoid making major changes to the state pension system and retirement health care coverage. Leaders of the state police and teachers unions stressed the importance of maintaining high-quality employment benefits.

Steve Baker, spokesperson for the New Jersey Education Association:

"We have some concern that this taskforce has been set up perhaps to arrive at a conclusion that public-sector benefits should more closely mirror private-sector benefits, and we think that would be just the wrong direction for New Jersey to head."

Baker explained why the state should avoid cutting benefits:

"It's frankly one of the reasons that New Jersey has been able to attract such a high quality workforce at what are frankly below market rate salaries, is by having that level of benefits."

The Benefits Review Task Force is expected to make recommendations this November.