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Union Leader Says "Adolf Christie" Is Bringing Nazi Germany To Jersey
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 17, 2011
Modified Jun 17, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jun 17, 2011
Modified Jun 17, 2011
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Genghis Khan, King Leopold, Adolf Hitler…Chris Christie? At a rally outside the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton, union leader Christopher Shelton compared the governor of New Jersey to the leader of Nazi Germany, telling a crowd of several thousand, "Welcome to Nazi Germany. The first thing that the Nazis and Adolf Hitler did was to go after the unions." Shelton, the head of the Communication Workers of America, was there with other union officials and politicians to protest legislation that would raise the cost of pension and health benefits for public employees. According to the Star-Ledger, Shelton went on to call two democrats who supported the bill "Adolf Christie's generals." He continued: "Any politician who stands up against collective bargaining, in this state or any other, is not a Democrat. They're Nazis, goddamn it."
Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and his administration were compared to Hitler and the Third Reich after his state passed extremely controversial legislation curtailing the collective bargaining rights of public workers. While it's true that Hitler moved to "dissolve" Germany's unions after coming into power, he also planned and oversaw the murder of millions of Europe's "undesirables," a move that would surely sink Christie's 2012 ambitions. Obviously the comparison of Hitler to Governor Christie is absurd, and the speaker at the rally immediately following Shelton sought to distance himself from it, saying, "I'm here to support the workers. I'm also here to denounce the comparisons between Governor Christie and Adolf Hitler."
Governor Christie couldn't be reached for comment, presumably because he was holed up in the Eagle's Nest his Mendham home.
Tagged
Chris Christie
Collective Bargaining
hitler
nazi germany
new jersey
unions
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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