New Jersey CWAers pound the doors for Greenstein

District One Vice President Chris Shelton joined more than 80 CWAers for labor walks in Mercer and Middlesex last Saturday, trying to help put Linda Greenstein’s candidacy over the top in a very close special election for a state senate seat.

Greenstein has been one of a rare breed this year: An elected official who will stick up for public workers, and who will vote the right way when it matters. Linda was one of only two legislators to vote against cuts in our pension and health care benefits last winter. She was one of only six legislators to oppose Christie’s plans to slash workers’ right to unemployment benefits. On her own, she came to our giant public worker rally on May 22nd, and she has spoken out against privatization.

“Linda Greenstein has stood up for workers when it mattered most,” said Shelton. “She has been one of the few legislators in the entire state of New Jersey to stick up for the rights of working people, and that’s why sending her to the state senate is our number one priority in the 8 days between now and election day.”

At least six locals participated in the effort on Saturday, with Locals 1036 and 1032 leading the way. CWA members began knocking on doors over the summer with Greenstein’s campaign, we’ve sent several rounds of mail to CWA members living in the district, and CWA member-to-member phone banks are working overtime.

Greenstein is running in a swing district that was vacated earlier this year when then-Senator Bill Baroni was appointed to a job with the Port Authority. Baroni, a Republican, was a long-time friend to CWA, but he was replaced with Thomas Goodwin, who has voted in lockstep with Governor Christie’s agenda. The low-lights include cutting more than $1 trillion in aid to schools and local governments to finance a five-figure tax cut for every millionaire in the state, and voting to slash funding for school breakfasts for underprivileged children and health care for women. The district, which borders Trenton, has thousands of public workers, and is largely seen as a referendum on Christie and public workers.

“If we can’t beat Christie’s candidate here, it will be seen as a huge victory for the Governor—and a huge defeat for us. There’s no way to sugarcoat the situation,” said Shelton. “We’re going to do everything we can to deliver a victory to Greenstein.”