ATLANTIC CITY - Men - and a lot of them - sat in the half darkened, skeptical universe of Building Trades Labor at this, their annual conference, dead centered in a hot and sticky summer, against the backdrop of a fast-unfolding gubernatorial contest.

When Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" from the Top Gun soundtrack blared through speakers, Mikie Sherrill - a retired Navy helicopter pilot - strode up onto the stage amid applause, under the watchful eye of a familiar granite figure looming in the back of the big room.

This was Steve Sweeney's crowd down here, but the ironworker and former senate president who emphasized working class issues and the economy in his gubernatorial bid, came in dead last in the June Democratic Primary, far behind winner Sherrill.

Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli addressed the crowd yesterday, on the first day of the two-day

conference. Now, it was up to Sherrill to make her own best argument to this group of Building Trades leaders, who just reelected to another term their long-serving president, Bill Mullen.

Jittery about the contemporary Democratic Party, many rank-and-file Building Trades guys frequently express doubts to their leaders about national level Dems. Sweeney tried to rally members to his cause in the primary, in an attempt to redefine party priorities with a specific economy-stupid message, but managed to muster just 59,811 votes, as he got smoked by Sherrill, who earned 286,244 votes. It's a little more complicated than that, of course; for after all, Sweeney had a longtime record in public life and ticked off certain key segments of his party, as everyone does in this game eventually.

The question became: would Sherrill be able to thread that delicate Building Trades needle (or rivet gun), by not alienating the business community in order to keep hard hats employed, while never overcorrecting to business at the expense of labor? In a world of mildewed men in public life on the one hand, and the stampeding Mamdanis of the world filling a vacuum on the other, could the congresswoman from North Jersey define her own lane and authentically connect with these guys?

"We have a few socialists and we have conservative Republicans," Mullen told InsiderNJ. "Just look at who we had speaking here at this conference. we had the Republican leaders, Bucco and DiMaio, we had the [Democratic] Governor, Speaker Coughlin, and the nominees of both parties. I don't think anybody does that."

So, why doesn't the organization endorse a candidate? They backed legislative candidates this morning. Why not governor?

"We want to hear more," Mullen admitted. "They both said the right things. Listen, a lot of it came through Sweeney but I told Murphy that he probably signed more pro Building Trades legislation than anybody. They just need to do a better job of enforcing it."

A couple of the trades jumped out early with their own endorsements. The Operating Engineers back Ciattarelli. The Laborers support Sherrill.

Mullen made it clear he doesn't back either party.

He backs the people in his union and supports whichever party or politician best drives pro-Building Trades policies.

"We're pro building trades," he said. "We're different from the AFL-CIO and public sector unions.  Collective bargaining originally came about so the owner doesn't make a profit without including us, the workers. We have to keep our contractors in business and for us to do well, they have to make a profit."

This morning, Sherrill - a former federal prosecutor - made her case for why she would do a better job for the Building Trades than Ciattarelli.

First of all, the granddaughter of a UAW welder said she has a longstanding record of backing project labor agreements, unlike Ciattarelli. She said she wants to build more homes, while insisting on PLAs for all state-funded projects. She wants more roads, bridges and rails, and to complete the Gateway Tunnel project begun by then-President Joe Biden. She wants to expand nuclear energy, she said, to applause.

She contrasted herself with Ciattarelli, who voted against prevailing wage, rejected a bipartisan compromise to maintain the Transportation Trust Fund to keep workers on the job, and did not support raising the minimum wage. The Republican has also aligned himself with President Donald J. Trump's FY2026 Budget, which rolls back energy tax credits, jeopardizing critical infrastructure projects.

North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) President Sean McGarvey called Trump's Budget Bill "a massive insult to the working men and women of North America’s Building Trades Unions and all construction workers. This is not what they voted for."

“If enacted, this stands to be the biggest job-killing bill in the history of this country. Simply put, it is the equivalent of terminating more than 1,000 Keystone XL pipeline projects. In some cases, it worsens the already harmful trajectory of the House-passed language, threatening an estimated 1.75 million construction jobs and over 3 billion work hours, which translates to $148 billion in lost annual wages and benefits. These are staggering and unfathomable job loss numbers, and the bill throws yet another lifeline and competitive advantage to China in the race for global energy dominance."

In addition, the Trump Administration has thrown into jeopardy a 2022 executive order Biden signed requiring the use of project labor agreements on federally funded projects totaling over $35 million.

"Ciattarelli said he would be a great governor for business," said Sherrill. "I'm going to be a great governor for business and labor."

The congresswoman got a big hand.

Sweeney in the back of the room stayed for the whole speech.

"We've got to keep pushing it," he said of the core message of the Building Trades, as "Danger Zone" again spilled through speakers, and the conference gaveled out without an official statewide champion in place, the arguments made - but more to be made, the two-person Building Trades labor contest momentarily unresolved.

Below are excerpts from Sherrill's remarks as prepared for delivery:

My promise to all of you, is that as a former federal prosecutor I understand strong laws are meaningless without enforcement. In my administration I will bolster our enforcement efforts to protect workers and ask my Attorney General to stop settling every case, and prosecute bad actors to send a clear signal in the industry that cheating on public works will no longer be tolerated as the cost of doing business. 

Unions built New Jersey, and you all have a critical role to play as we work to make the Garden State into the world’s premier manufacturing and innovation hub and bring costs down for families. That will involve building all across our state using labor from the Building Trades — from homes and new energy infrastructure, to roads, bridges, and new business facilities. I’m up for the challenge, and I know your members are too.

[...]

As New Jerseyans’ utility bills go up, we’re also going to need to make bold investments in our energy supply. As governor, I’ll host solar on state properties, and I’ll work with the Building Trades to get it done. We’ll lead the nation in clean, cheap power while making our state energy independent.

Just last week, I visited a solar farm in Southampton Township where over 200 union workers across multiple crafts turned a capped landfill into a source of energy that is lowering utility bills for local residents.

Like so many solar projects across the state, the farm used Inflation Reduction Act tax credits to reduce construction costs and hire union workers.

While we need solar in the short term, if we want to meet our economy’s long-term energy needs, we must build our nuclear energy infrastructure. I will expand our nuclear energy generating capacity to take on our energy crisis. That’s another opportunity to create union jobs into New Jersey to move our state into the future.

I’ll invest in the people who keep our economy running. I’ll expand helmets to hard hats programs and invest in high-quality registered apprenticeship programs. And as governor, I’ll be the best governor for business and for labor.

I have big goals for the Garden State, and we are going to have to work together to get this done.

[...]

I want to tell you a little bit about what we are up against in my opponent Jack Ciattarelli.

A civil rights champion once said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

My opponent has repeatedly shown all of us exactly who is – he courted and received the endorsement of the ABC, not once but twice. In fact, I’m sure you saw because I know you track this, the day after he won the primary this year, the ABC advertised their full throated support for him.

His support from ABC is no coincidence. Time and time again he has turned his back on labor. When he was a legislator and had the chance to expand PLA’s to more projects in New Jersey, Jack’s vote was crystal clear. Jack said NO.

He had another chance to stand up for workers when he cast his vote on a common-sense, bipartisan legislation that required certain bidders to provide proof they would pay the prevailing wage. What did he do? Jack said NO.

Many of you remember the summer of 2016 when the TTF ran out of money forcing projects all across the state to be halted, leaving thousands of building trades members jobless. When a bipartisan compromise was reached that would fund the TTF and get your members back to work, do you know what Jack did? Jack said NO.

And then, there is the Republican Price Hike Bill, which rolls back the tax credits that are funding clean energy projects across the State. The elimination of these credits means that countless union workers could lose their jobs.

But perhaps even worse, it cuts off the development of new projects and ends the opportunity to create thousands of new union jobs. Did Jack stand and fight for these projects or these jobs? Jack said NO.

And, throughout his career, Jack has worked to dismantle state pensions and health benefits, voted against raising the minimum wage five times, and is now endorsed by three state senate and assembly members who have introduced right to work legislation.  Again and again, Jack said NO.

Republican Governors all across the country have shown us who they are, by pushing right to work laws, dismantling prevailing wage protections and finding innovative ways to limit the rights of unions and your members.

New Jersey is sure as hell not a right to work state, and I refuse to surrender our future to someone who will make us one.

Look, Jack has told us who he is. All I am asking you to do is believe him.

While some will paint this election as a Democrat vs. Republican narrative, that’s not what this election is about.

I have a vision for workers in NJ.  I will champion PLAs, I will demand my AG to go after cheaters, I will be bold in encouraging innovation and meeting our energy needs. I’ll be the best governor for business AND for labor. All of this against a guy who has shown us he is unwilling to stand up for workers at every turn and is willing to follow a playbook that looks to dismantle all the values we all hold so dearly.

The future of the labor movement in New Jersey is on the ballot in November.  As a candidate and as Governor, labor will always have a seat at my table.