CLIFTON - Standing in the parking lot of IBEW Local 1158, in Passaic County, the gritty heart of the nation's Labor movement, Mikie Sherrill this morning launched a weekend of GOTV events with a strong emphasis on labor priorities in a crowd of union workers.

"I know you fight hard for your rights, but you also fight for every single family in New Jersey," the Democratic nominee for governor told a crowd readying to hit the streets to canvass on her behalf. 'When you lift workers up, all workers get lifted up. That is the importance of the fight we are taking on right now."

SHERRILL'S FULL SPEECH HERE:

New Jersey workers can make a statement on Nov. 4th against President Donald Trump cutting jobs, firing workers without cause, and rolling back union protections.

"Union rights are on the ballot," said Sherrill. "The fight for PLAs is on the ballot. The fight for collective bargaining is on the ballot. The fight for your wages is on the ballot. The fight for your families is on the ballot in New Jersey."

In his introduction of the statewide Democratic nominee, Tom Kelly, President of the Passaic County Labor Council, waved away a microphone and projected his voice into the crowd of mostly LIUNA members. "We're under attack," Kelly told the crowd. "We are under attack. Everybody got that picture? You, me, we are under attack. Over 300,000 federal employees have been illegally terminated. A psychopath, the richest man in the world, takes a chainsaw to people's jobs, and they think it's funny."

It's not funny, Kelly said.

It's time to fight back, the labor leader yelled as the workers' voices rose in support.

Others present here today in support of Sherrill and Labor included U.S. Rep. Nellie Pou (D-9), Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D-27), Passaic County Commissioner Mike Ramaglia, AFL-CIO NJ President Charlie Wowkanech, LIUNA Leader Mike Hellstrom, and AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Laurel Brennan.

AFL-CIO NJ PREZ WOWKANECH:

"It's up to us," Wowkanech told the crowd. "The next 24 days. This is a very close race, let's make no mistake about it. The road to victory starts here today with organized labor. We're going to send a message to Washington, D.C., that organized labor is alive and well and we're not taking this nonsense anymore."

The mood in the crowd was animated - but jittery.

Trump won Passaic County last year (100K to 95k votes) and gave a fright to Pou and her allies. Now, Sherrill opponent, Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli, routinely makes campaign stops here, in part looking to connect with Latino voters.

But ICE raids in New Jersey, Trump's designs on using American cities as training grounds for the U.S. Military, an announcement this week by the Trump Administration that it will allow Qatar to build a military air base in Idaho, and a Ciattarelli-attended MAGA rally in Wildwood yesterday had more than a few people angrily shaking their heads.

In the gubernatorial debate this past Wednesday, Ciattarelli awarded Trump an "A" grade as president.

Bagolie wasn't amused.

"You have a MAGA rally and a labor rally," she noted. "This rally is a rally of people and democracy for the working class people of New Jersey. We are the people who are working hard for the people of New Jersey."