As reported by nj.com, New Jersey’s largest teachers union is declining to endorse the state’s two legislative leaders, the latest sign of a rift between public employee unions and Democrats who supported an overhaul of pension and health benefits.

On Saturday, the union’s political action committee announced its endorsement of 68 candidates for state Senate and Assembly-66 Democrats and two Republicans. Among the Democrats passed up, but not the only ones, were Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, who shepherded the contentious measure through the Legislature in June. No candidate who voted for the legislation, Democrat or Republican, won the union’s backing.

In 2007, the last time all 120 seats in the Legislature were at stake, the union endorsed 88 candidates, including Sweeney, Oliver, and many Republican incumbents. This year, the only two Republicans the union endorsed are challengers. In addition, to giving its backing, the union also gave $973,000 in political contributions in 2007.

“NJEA members make these endorsement decisions and they have made it clear that they will not endorse legislators who have impaired their right to collectively bargain and who have imposed thousands of dollars of additional costs on public employees,” the union president, Barbara Keshishian, said. “Our members refuse to give precious resources and their own time to campaign for legislators who hurt them and their families.”

The endorsement decision came just two days after the Communications Workers of America, the largest state workers union, also declined to endorse Sweeney, Oliver, and other lawmakers who approved the legislation. 

“The vote came to me as no surprise,” Sweeney said today. “But I am pleased to know that a majority of the union men and women wanted to support candidates with long-standing, far-reaching pro-labor agendas, only to hear their voices smothered by a minority with a short-term political agenda.”

Oliver had far less to say about the snubs. “I have no comment on it whatsoever,” she said. “The two organizations certainly have the ability to endorse who they want to endorse.”

Tags: Articles, endorsement, NJEA, Oliver, Sweeney
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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