In Senator Menendez, unions see a blue-collar guy (unions are putting their money and numbers behind

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In Menendez, unions see a blue-collar guy
Monday, January 15, 2007
BY DEBORAH HOWLETT
Star-Ledger Staff

At labor rallies, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez likes to offer this modest proposal: No member of Congress should get a pay raise, he says, until Congress increases the federal minimum wage.

It's a red-meat line for a blue-collar audience, and it never fails to stir the crowd.

But the line also illustrates the rapport Menendez, the son of a factory seamstress, has built with the working men and women whose unions are putting their money and numbers behind his campaign.

Most major labor unions in New Jersey have endorsed Menendez in the race for U.S. Senate against Republican state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. Last week came a string of public demonstrations of support: a rally in Atlantic City with the union representing 18,000 casino and hotel workers; a news conference in Trenton with four unions representing 25,000 nurses and home health care workers; a rally in Clifton where Menendez received the endorsement of the state's largest union local, representing 30,000 grocery store workers.

A union endorsement, Menendez said at the Trenton event, "is a powerful statement to other people in our state about my ability to perform, my ability to lead and my ability to make tough choices even when they're not popular."

But the support is more than symbolic. Unions have contributed $1.7 million to Menendez' campaigns since he first held public office in 1987, or about 6.5 percent of the $26.3 million total. That compares with $35,250 for Kean, which is less than 1 percent of his total in campaign contributions since his first campaign in 1999.

So far in this year's Senate race, unions have given $313,899 to Menendez but just $5,550 to Kean.

More than the money, the backing of organized labor means Menendez will have access to a volunteer army of election-week foot soldiers knocking on doors and helping turn out the vote. "We have one fired-up labor movement in this state," Gov. Jon Corzine said last week at a Menendez rally.

Last year, in the gubernatorial election, Corzine put a paid militia on the streets to go door-to-door throughout the summer. They were armed with wireless PDAs and access to a sophisticated voter data base.

Menendez will rely on more old-fashioned methods, flooding specific precincts in the final days of the campaign with door-hangers. That's where the union members come in.

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In Menendez, unions see a blue-collar guy
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HEFTY NUMBERS

Statewide, 712,000 workers belong to a union, according to the Labor Research Association. That translates to about one in five workers in New Jersey. It's the largest organized group in the state, according to AFL-CIO state President Charles Wowkanech.

And union members are often far more engaged politically than other groups, Wowkanech says. Over the past seven years, more than 400 union members have been elected to state and local office in New Jersey, he says, largely with the help of other members.

"In essence, we have a trained work force," Wowkanech says. "We cannot beat Republicans and corporate America with money. They outspend us 14-to-one. But we feel if we are united they cannot beat us."

In this competitive Senate race, those efforts by rank-and-file union members are going to be key, says Carla Katz, president of the Communications Workers of America Local 1034, a state workers union that has endorsed Menendez. "Because the (poll) numbers are where they are," Katz says, "what happens on Election Day is critical."

Working-class background
Menendez' connection with organized labor is more than just the typical union support of a Democrat. He's one of them -- or, at least, many of them believe his background makes him the next best thing.

"He comes from a working-class background. Our members understand what that means," Katz says.

Menendez often uses his early life story to draw a sharp contrast with Kean, who was educated at a prep school and attended an Ivy League college. Menendez attended public high school in Union City and graduated from Rutgers University law school.

Menendez is quick to point out that most of Kean's income -- in 2004, he took in $289,801, according to federal tax returns -- is from family trusts, not his $49,000-a-year salary as a state lawmaker. As a member of the U.S. Senate, Menendez earns an annual salary of $165,200.

Kean, who accepted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsement Friday in Paramus, hasn't pursued union endorsements, according to his spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker.

Menendez, however, covets the endorsements. He calls them "a testament to a lifetime of work" that is based on his record in Congress the past 14 years.

Menendez has one of the most pro-union voting records in Congress. He has a lifetime rating of 97 percent from the AFL-CIO and the Service Employees International Union; his rating is 100 percent from the American Federation of Teachers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

"I tell my people to go to the poll and vote for the candidate who best supports who you are," says Harvey Whille, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1262. "There's no question where do you vote in this race. He's the type of candidate who supports all of the issues we care about."

Supports wage increase
Maybe one of the most symbolic positions Menendez has is his support for raising the federal minimum wage from the current $5.15 an hour, even if most union members are better paid than that. It takes on even greater import because Kean voted in Trenton against increasing in the state's minimum wage, which last month rose to $7.15 an hour.

Menendez has joined with the AFL-CIO in calling for the first increase in the federal minimum wage since 1997 by pointing out that members of Congress have voted themselves nine pay raises amounting to $31,900 a year during the same time period. A person making the minimum wage, working 40 hours a week, earns $10,712 a year.

Deborah Howlett covers politics. She may be reached at dhowlett@starledger.com or (609) 989-0273.

My parents grew up with him. Union City, NJ was (and is) lower or lower-middle class, mostly Hispanic families.