Democratic congressional candidate Sue Altman has a new union in her corner: the Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Local 60, which represents upwards of 1,300 transit conductors and assistant conductors in New Jersey.
“Sue Altman has the right vision for the future of New Jersey’s public transportation and the workers who make it run every day,” SMART-TD Local 60 President Jerome Johnson said in a statement. “Our transit workers play a vital role in our communities – from daily communities to seniors with medical appointments, transit workers are absolutely essential to our communities. Sue has dedicated her career to standing with workers and their families, and she’ll be an ironclad supporter of our issues in Congress.”
Altman and Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) have spent much of the general election campaign in the 7th congressional district, New Jersey’s most competitive congressional district by far, battling for support from organized labor.
Altman has endorsements from many of the state’s largest unions, among them the Communications Workers of America, 32BJ SEIU, the New Jersey Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers New Jersey, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees New Jersey.
Kean, however, has successfully peeled off a number of unions in building trades and law enforcement, including the Policemen’s Benevolent Association, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825, and the state Building & Construction Trades Council. Kean also had enough union support to convince the AFL-CIO – the largest union in the state, and one that typically backs Democrats – to remain neutral in the race.