Claire Gustafson, the Republican running against Donald Norcross in CD1, said today tat a union boss’s suggestion that Norcross would make a good Labor Secretary is ridiculous. She also called the Congressman our for his support of project labor agreements. Her press release follows:
Republican candidate for Congress in New Jersey’s First Congressional District, Claire Gustafson, took issue with a recent news report that suggested Congressman Donald Norcross would be a good candidate for US Labor Secretary in a Joe Biden administration.
“For a union boss to suggest Donald Norcross should be the Secretary of Labor because ‘we need somebody who has worked with their hands, especially a construction guy’ is ridiculous.” Claire Gustafson said, “The suggestion he works with his hands is laughable when you consider that according to an October 2014 labor publication Norcross hasn’t ‘worked with the tools’ since 1993. To put that in perspective Norcross hasn’t worked with the tools since before President Bill Clinton met Monica Lewinsky.”
Gustafson added, “But Norcross did say in that publication that he kept his ‘card, and kept coming to meetings.’ If going to meetings makes you a union laborer then the fact that I interact with union labor at industry trade shows for my business makes me union labor too.”
“For all his talk of supporting working men and women, one has to wonder what working men and women Norcross supports.” Gustafson continued, “Obviously not private contractors given the fact that in a 2015 interview Norcross bragged that he ‘negotiated well over 100 project labor agreements’ and then complained that, despite the fact President Obama issued an executive order allowing for project labor agreements with the federal government, there hadn’t been enough PLAs.”
“Obviously Norcross doesn’t care that project labor agreements hurt working men and women by creating an unlevel playing field with restrictions placed on the hiring and working practices of private contractors.” Gustafson said, “Rather than using National Women’s Equality Day as a campaign tool today Donald Norcross might show some equality to the numerous women owned private contracting firms by leveling the playing field and ending his support of project labor agreements.”