My Union Story.

I’ve been a conductor at NJ Transit for 15 years. For most of that time, I never imagined myself becoming deeply involved in the union. I went to work, did my job, paid my dues, and trusted that the people elected to represent us would fight for our best interests.

That began to change during our last contract.

Like a lot of families, my wife and I were feeling the effects of inflation. We were saving for a house, preparing to start a family, and watching the cost of just about everything rise around us. At the same time, unions across the country were using that moment to negotiate significant wage increases for their members.

Then I began hearing that our union had reached an agreement for 3% annual raises.

I couldn’t understand why we would settle so early in the process for raises that weren’t keeping pace with the rising cost of living. I assumed there would be significant pushback. When that didn’t happen, I decided I couldn’t sit on the sidelines anymore.

For the first time in my career, I became actively involved in my union.

I talked to anyone who would listen. I researched the numbers, explained why I believed we could do better, and encouraged members to participate in the vote. As more members began asking questions, I also experienced something I wasn’t expecting: resistance to the participation itself.

When I traveled to Newark simply to observe the vote count, I was met with hostility. When I publicly questioned the agreement, my motives and even my loyalty to the craft were questioned.

That experience changed the way I looked at our union.

The contract passed with very low voter participation, and for a while I went back to business as usual.

Then came the body camera issue.

Members began hearing rumors that conductors could soon be required to wear body cameras. Once again, important information seemed to be reaching the membership through rumors instead of directly from our union. I repeatedly tried to get answers, but couldn’t.

So instead of waiting, we organized.

More than 555 members signed a petition opposing body cameras. Members made their voices impossible to ignore, and the body camera proposal was eventually dropped.

From there, we started looking at other problems.

Union meeting attendance had become extremely low. It would have been easy to say that members simply didn’t care. I didn’t believe that. The meeting location was difficult to get to, parking was a problem, the space was inadequate, and many members didn’t feel informed enough to believe attending would make a difference.

We began communicating directly with members about the issues affecting them and organized an effort to move our meetings to a more accessible, appropriate meeting hall.

Since then, meeting attendance has more than tripled.

The next major turning point came during the 2025 special election for Vice President.

I supported Mu Hagler in that race. Mu is somebody who isn’t afraid to stand up for the membership, so I was excited to support him. When union leadership declared that there would be no runoff and announced a winner, we did our homework. We researched the rules, challenged the decision, and proved that a runoff was required.

The election itself exposed another problem. Ballots were mailed in separate batches nearly a week apart, some members reported never receiving theirs, and participation remained extremely low.

I became convinced that we needed a better way to vote.

So we began pushing for electronic voting.

It wasn’t easy. The effort took years. We organized through social media, communicated repeatedly with the International, worked through delays and resistance, and refused to let the issue disappear.

Eventually, we broke through.

When I look back, none of this was part of some plan to run for General Chairman.

I got involved because I believed we deserved a better contract. That led to fighting for better communication. Better communication led to greater participation. Greater participation helped us stop body cameras, improve our union meetings, challenge an election that wasn’t being conducted according to the rules, and ultimately modernize the way our members vote.

Along the way, I learned something important:

We’ve already proven what an organized membership can accomplish, and we’ve often done it while pushing against the very leadership that should have been helping us.

That’s ultimately why I’m running for General Chairman.

Imagine what we can accomplish when the General Committee isn’t standing in the way of an informed and engaged membership, but is helping build one.

I want a union where information flows freely, participation is encouraged, disagreement isn’t treated as disloyalty, and our leadership uses the collective strength of nearly 1,350 conductors to fight for the best possible future for our craft.

The last few years have shown me what our membership is capable of.

Now I’m running because I believe it’s time to put that strength to work.