Sherrill nabs endorsement of largest federal employees union

The largest federal employees union in the nation has endorsed Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill to be the next governor of New Jersey.

The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than 800,000 federal workers across the United States, said it believes Sherrill will protect union members. About 29,000 federal employees live in New Jersey, according to the union.

“During her time in Congress, Rep. Sherrill has earned a 100 percent lifetime voting record from AFGE and the AFL-CIO on issues critical to union members and working families,” AFGE District 2 National Vice President David Gonzalez said in the announcement. “As New Jersey’s next governor, Mikie Sherrill will fight to protect our social safety net programs like Social Security and Medicare and defend working people’s right to form and join a union.”

Sherrill is one of the 223 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sponsoring the Protecting America’s Workforce Act, introduced by Maine Democrat Jared Golden, which would overturn a March executive order by President Donald Trump that stripped large swaths of the federal workforce of their collective bargaining rights.

Sherrill said she’s honored to have the support of AFGE.

“Our dedicated and tireless public servants keep this state running, and I am committed to ensuring they have the resources they need to best help our residents,” she said in a statement. “At a time when unions are under attack from Donald Trump and his lackey Jack Ciattarelli, I will be the governor who stands up for New Jerseyans and fights to build a Garden State that works for all our families.”

Labor rights are part of Sherrill’s platform. The issues page on her campaign website highlights her support for working families and for collective bargaining rights. According to her website, Sherrill has joined picket lines as an elected official, and she says that as governor, she’ll continue to deliver for labor unions and support bargaining rights.

“Like so many New Jerseyans, unions played a vital role in my family reaching the middle class – my grandfather’s UAW job helped him provide incredible opportunities for his children,” Sherrill says on her website. “I wouldn’t be here today without the economic security that unions secured for my family, and New Jersey’s middle class wouldn’t be here without their tireless organizing.”

Former Assemblymember Jack Ciattarelli, Sherrill’s Republican opponent, says little about labor unions on his website, but what he does say is critical of educators unions, which he calls “a hyperpartisan political operation.”

Ciattarelli has received criticism from unions in New Jersey, including from the state’s chapter of the AFL-CIO, which opposes his candidacy for voting against project labor agreements and past statements suggesting he would be open to drastic changes to public employees’ pensions and health care, among other things.