The economic crisis that is affecting all of us has shown America that it's time to put working people first - not billionaires and corporate special interests.

We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the election of President Obama and the new Congress to make real progress on jobs, health care, a path to citizenship, and the right of every worker to organize. 

November 4, 2008 - On election night, leaders from the New Jersey Democratic Party gathered at the Heldrich Center to participate in the making of history, as Barack Obama was elected this country's first African-American President.

November 4, 2008, New York: Barack Obama’s victory is a victory for working people across this country. Regardless of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, immigration status, sexual orientation – all working people have taken a giant step forward today.

Barack has renewed our faith in what is possible for those who are trying to stay in the middle class and for those who are seeking to become a part of the middle class.

With great vision, he talked with us about what he wants to accomplish for the American people. And with great candor, he called for every person to become engaged in the effort.

October 25, 2008: NY-NJ Regional Joint Board Members hit the streets in Newark and Bayonne, NJ today for the third consecutive Saturday as part of their effort to mobilize fellow union members to vote in the Presidential election on November 4th.

To date, over 40 members from each of the union's three divisions (manufacturing, retail

October 10, 2008: New York New Jersey Regional Joint Board members, together with members of the Teamsters, UFCW, AFSCME, the NJ Laborers, SEIU, the Carpenters, the Plumbers and RWDSU rallied today in support of Senator Barack Obama for President.

Dennis Brooks, a Local 96 member from the Hilton Newark Penn Station, addressed the crowd about his reasons for supporting the Obama-Biden ticket.

From washingtonpost.com:

According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama's plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy. For the approximately 147,000 families that make up the top 0.1 percent of the income scale, the difference between the two plans is stark. While McCain offers a $269,364 tax cut, Obama would raise their taxes, on average, by $701,885 - a difference of nearly $1 million.

On August 26th, 2008, UNITE HERE leader and longtime textile worker Gloria Craven addressed the Democratic National Convention about her support for Barack Obama.

You can watch her speech by clicking here or you can read the text of her comments below:

June 12, 2008, Trenton:

UNITE HERE members from the New York New Jersey Regional Joint Board and the Metropolitan Trucking and Distribution Joint Board (North NJ) joined their brothers and sisters from Atlantic City Local 54 today to lobby elected officials to enact a state budget by the June 30th deadline.

By law, the state must adopt a new budget by the constitutional deadline of June 30th. If no budget is adopted, all essential government services must close. Since casinos are regulated by the government, casinos MUST also close during a government shut-down.

In October and early November, 2007, sixty UNITE HERE members came out to support political candidates who are fighting for good union jobs in Newark and Sayreville, NJ. We went door to door to get out the vote for our candidates, building our political power in New Jersey and demonstrating that NY NJ Regional Joint Board members are important allies.