Union leader blasts county executive over labor issues
TRENTON >> Union leader Michael Maloney is not happy with Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes.
As president of the Mercer County Central Labor Council, Maloney is equally fed up with Mercer County’s Democratic Committee.
“Labor is fractured with the Mercer County Democrats almost beyond repair,” Maloney said Thursday in an interview. “It’s fractured, and we are the people who are the boots on the ground on Election Day. That’s not happening this year. It is fractured, and I don’t know what part they don’t get.”
Maloney later clarified that his dispute is with “certain Democrats,” not all of them. For example, he supports Democratic Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo of Hamilton and Mercer County Freeholder Sam Frisby, who serves as vice chairperson of the Mercer Dems.
Hughes is a Democrat kingmaker seeking re-election to a fifth term this year. He can expect to receive no support from Maloney, who traditionally donates
generously to the Democratic Party. The union boss described Hughes as a “good man” but suggested the county executive is failing to represent the best interests of local labor.
Another elected official facing pushback from Maloney is East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov, the top chairperson who runs the Mercer Democratic Party.
“Janice is a nice person, but she does nothing for labor,” he said of the mayor. “Every job in her town is done with out-of-state contractors who don’t stay here, don’t spend their money here. Our membership has had enough.” “My members, as do other trade members, deserve better,” he added. “When any job arrives in East Windsor, it is being performed by out-of-state contractors who don’t live in the area, don’t spend their money in the area. And nothing is union there.”
Maloney means business, going public with his grievance against the powers that be. He says certain Mercer County Democrats have taken labor for granted and that he is no longer playing ball with them.
“They want your money for fundraisers and say, ‘Hey we’re your friend,’ but when you have 30 and 40 percent unemployment with your members and the economy is booming it is very disheartening,” said Maloney, a Hamilton resident. “This whole county is exploding with work and we don’t even do 10 percent of it. It’s all being done with out-of-state area contractors.”
A mayor of any town should be an advocate for local workers, Maloney said.
“You could say as a mayor, ‘I want to use the local workforce,’ because they spend it where they make it,” he said. “They are going to go to the bakery. They are
going to go to the local barbershop. They are going to spend it here, and I don’t think Hughes gets that, and I don’t think numerous mayors get that. A developer will do what it’s being asked to do, but if they are not being directed they are just going to pad their pockets.”
When reached for comment, Hughes said he and Maloney “always had a great relationship” and expressed disappointment with the trade union executive.
“I feel we have a great relationship with labor, and I am sorry he feels otherwise,” Hughes said of Maloney. “When the county builds stuff, we build with labor exclusively.”
Mironov also expressed disappointment with Maloney. “I know Mike, and I respect his passion,” she said, “but am disappointed that he feels that way.”
Maloney’s labor council has 55,000 families represented by 55 area unions in Mercer County. He also serves as business manager and secretary-treasurer of Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 9, which has about 2,500 members.
A former Mercer County Improvement Authority board member, Maloney resigned from that position last year in protest to Mironov being elected as the Mercer County Democratic Committee boss.
“I couldn’t stay in the MCIA as much as I wanted to,” Maloney said Thursday. “I would be a hypocrite if I stayed on that board, which I thoroughly enjoyed serving the people of Mercer County, but it would be hypocritical for me to stay on that board. I want nothing to do with certain Mercer County Democrats.”
Members of the Mercer County Democratic Committee elected Mironov as party chair last June, effectively making her the top officer and leader of the Mercer County Democrats.
“First of all, I was honored to be elected county chairperson by acclimation in an open democratic process attended by hundreds of committee members throughout Mercer,” she said Friday in an interview. “Anybody had an opportunity to compete. We all value the members of labor. They are an important part of our communities. We strongly share the goals of attracting and growing business and bringing new jobs into our communities. We are all always looking to advocate for and provide local workforce opportunities throughout Mercer County. All of this, of course, is done within the confines of the law and open transparent government and our democratic process.”
County Executive Hughes appointed Hamilton resident and labor ally Daniel A. Smith to the MCIA board of commissioners last month. Smith also serves as fourth vice chairperson of the Mercer Democrats. Maloney applauds Hughes for putting Smith on the MCIA but faults the county executive for not acting sooner.
“Why did it take so long to appoint Dan Smith to anything?” Maloney said. “He is a young bright individual, and he should have been the chairman of the Democratic Party or the vice chairman at the very least. Why wasn’t he? I am happy they put him on the MCIA, but why did it take so long for them to recognize Dan Smith? Dan is a good friend of mine.”
Maloney says his labor council will support certain politicians with pro-union credentials but will not blindly support the Mercer County Democratic Committee this year.
“I am tired of being taken advantage of,” he said. “All my members want to do is eat. They want to put food on the table. It’s not hard to figure out. We are not getting any help.”
The Mercer County government under Hughes’ leadership has taken steps to promote the local workforce. For example, the county and the Mercer County Building and Construction Trades Council entered into a “Direct Hire” agreement last April that allows the county to tap “qualified men and women of the local union trades for specific projects or construction work on a temporary basis,” according to a county news release. “Under that agreement, Mercer County reaches out to the Trades Council to provide from its ranks the workers for a particular project, such as painters, plumbers or carpenters. Mercer County then temporarily hires the recommended workers to work in concert with the county’s full- and part-time staff.”
Hughes is the son of late former New Jersey Gov. Richard J. Hughes, a former New Jersey Supreme Court chief justice. First elected as county executive in 2003, Brian Hughes hopes to be re-elected this November to another four-year term. He defends his record on labor.
“We’re going to be using labor construction when we build the airport terminal,” Hughes said Thursday in an interview. “We have used labor construction when we did the new courthouse annex. In that regard we have a great relationship with labor. In fact, we did the county courthouse with labor exclusively and it came in on budget and on time.”
As Hughes hits the campaign trail, he most certainly will play up his record on labor.
“In addition to the $80 million courthouse project, more recently the county finished a full-gut renovation to the courthouse annex at 240 W. State Street, and utilized local union labor under project labor agreements,” county spokeswoman Julie Willmot said Thursday via email. “Every significant project since Mr. Hughes has been county executive was completed by men and women from the local trades. The county executive supports union labor at every turn and facilitates that spirit in each of our towns.”
Philadelphia’s most powerful labor leader, John “Johnny Doc” Dougherty, has been indicted earlier this year in a massive federal corruption case. The Philadelphia corruption case shows what may happen if big labor pushes too hard in the political and business worlds, but Maloney is a champion of ethical transactions and equal opportunity.
“Follow the law. I don’t want anything shady going on,” Maloney said. “We just want a fair shake, that’s all. Give my contractors a fair shake.”