In the 10th District congressional race, challenger Imani Oakley is going after U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr.’s labor record, specifically for not supporting labor rights bills and accepting donations from “anti-union corporations.”
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Payne Jr. has avoided cosponsoring the overwhelming majority of House Democratic labor bills during his time in office,” Oakley said in a statement.
“His absence just proves what his constituents already know: Payne Jr. is bought and paid for by giant corporations.”
Payne, a five-term incumbent, has failed to co-sponsor 87 percent of the 756 labor and employment-related bills that Democrats have introduced to the House since he took office in 2013, Oakley’s campaign stated.
Those proposals include the Fair Pay Act, which prohibits wage discrimination, the Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act of 2015 (which he also failed to cosponsor when it was reintroduced in 2017 and 2019), and the Hazard Pay for the Frontlines During Health Emergencies Act of 2020, which required employers to pay hazard pay to health care employees during public health emergencies.
Additionally, the congressman has accepted more than $1 million in contributions from corporations and trade groups, including many, such as Amazon, that have a history of anti-union activity.
“It’s not surprising that Payne Jr. hasn’t stood up for workers. With his disclosures so full of anti-worker corporate cash, it raises the question: who’s side is Donald Payne Jr. on?,” Oakley concluded.
