Senator Robert Menendez and over one hundred participants, including labor leaders, union members, community allies, and elected officials, joined together at the Rutgers Labor Education Center to kick off the New Jersey State AFL-CIO Labor 2012 Program – an all-out effort of labor and community allies to elect progressive leaders and labor candidates endorsed by the New Jersey State AFL-CIO who will fight for our middle class values and work to create jobs from the local to federal levels.

 

Senator Menendez has a 100 percent working family voting record and the New Jersey State AFL-CIO is proud to support him for U.S. Senate. We thank our labor and community leaders, CLC Presidents, and Executive Board Members for their participation, and look forward to – over the next 53 days before Election Day – mobilizing, phone banking, and canvassing with you to put forth a 100 percent effort for our good friend Senator Menendez.

 

Senator Menendez stands in solidarity with New Jersey’s working families. When times get tough, he is there to fight for us and the issues we care about. Senator Menendez was instrumental in passing legislation that helped protect the middle class and put a stop to the catastrophic economic landslide that President Bush left us with. He supported the American Jobs Act, which would support 17,200 construction jobs and 9,300 education and first responder jobs in New Jersey. He voted to protect collective bargaining rights and wage safeguards like Davis-Bacon so workers can continue to earn a fair paycheck. He voted to extend tax cuts for middle class families while asking the richest 2% of Americans to pay their fair share to help the economy turn around.

 

The kickoff also included the unveiling of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO 50^th Anniversary Plaque. An exhibit commemorating 50 years of New Jersey labor history is currently on display at the Rutgers Labor Education Ceter.

 

 Voter registration has been underway around the state for the several weeks and labor walks are commencing this weekend. We are counting on your support. The work we do in the weeks ahead is critical to achieving the progressive policies that create jobs and move our state forward.