NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Two unions representing more than 8,000 educators and researchers at Rutgers University have endorsed Analilia Mejia for Congress in the Democratic primary for the special election to replace Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill.
The unions—Rutgers AAUP-AFT, which represents full-time faculty, graduate workers, postdocs, and counselors, and the Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union, which represents adjunct faculty—will urge members in the 11th Congressional District to vote for Mejia in the February 5 primary and to volunteer for her campaign.
“Our members need people in Congress who understand the threats we are facing today, as workers, as educators and scholars, and to our basic civil rights,” said Matthew Buckley, co-chair of the unions’ Joint Legislative Committee. “With her long experience as a labor and community organizer, Analilia knows our issues and will be the voice we need.”
“I wouldn’t be where I am today or have my two master’s degrees from Rutgers if my mom hadn’t joined a union,” Mejia said. “When educators and university workers have power on the job, they can focus on teaching our kids instead of scrambling to pay rent. I’ve spent 25 years fighting alongside labor to win real gains for working people, and I’ll keep that fight going in Congress.”
The unions’ endorsement statement praised Mejia’s campaign for emphasizing “the critical need for accountability, anti-corruption efforts, and systematic reform in our national governance; the protection and expansion of civil rights; affordable health care, education, and a living wage; and the reinvigoration and expansion of America’s investment in education and research.”
Click here to read the full endorsement statement.
The statement also cited Mejia’s “impressive progressive and labor credentials, as well [her] organizational experience affecting positive change.” Mejia is the previous state director for the Working Families Party, political director of SEIU 32BJ, national political director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, and deputy director of the US Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau.
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